


Kaleidoscope

by ThatMasterOnline



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-25
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-15 23:32:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 24,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15424071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatMasterOnline/pseuds/ThatMasterOnline
Summary: A new detective is sent to investigate a case because of her affinity for and expertise with androids. When the case takes a terrifying turn, she realizes she must find the killer, confront her past, and prevent history from repeating itself. All in a day's work for an android, and thankfully she has one of those at her side.





	1. New Assignment

**Author's Note:**

  * For [masqvia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/masqvia/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Vanishing Point](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15140150) by [masqvia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/masqvia/pseuds/masqvia). 



> So I was inspired so much by masqvia's Vanishing Point that I decided I wanted to write something like it, and their fic helped spark a TON of ideas! Besides, was the CyberLife ending REALLY so bad? Androids stay androids, and no androids murder anybody, what's the problem here?

“Lieutenant Downing? In my office, please.” Stephanie “Steph” Downing stepped into the chief’s office uncertainly.

“Chief?”

“Congratulations,” he said with a grin, “Baby’s first murder case.”

“Joy,” she said sarcastically, but she was grinning too. She’d been looking forward to this for a while.

“Now, I’d be lying if I said you’d be the first to investigate this case, we’ve had officers on it for a few days. Thing is, they can’t make heads or tails of it, so we’re hoping a pair of eyes fresh out of the academy will be able to help. I’m also picking you because...well, frankly you’re the only person who’d agree to work with an android.”

“I...There’s gonna be an android on the case?” Though her voice held a kind of hesitancy, she wasn't apprehensive about having an android partner. Far from it, she was ecstatic.

“Yes. CyberLife is sending out their newest model in order to begin reintroducing androids into society. This line of androids was originally for police work, anyways, and the RK800 series was the only line of androids that did not deviate during the epidemic." The “Deviancy Epidemic” was the name given to the violent uprisings in detroit two years ago, so named because the “virus” spread by touch. Once a deviant touched an android, that android became a deviant. Considering deviants acted irrationally, were prone to violence and murder and self-harm...it was considered more of a sickness in androids than whatever the heck that Markus guy was trying to make it out to be. A bid for equal rights? Right, and he thought the way to equal rights was murdering the “oppressors”?

The whole situation had been laughable. Thank God for the Connor model that had stopped the whole thing in its tracks.

“So I’ll be working with an RK900? I’ve never seen one, they’re supposed to be the absolute top of the line. Faster, stronger, real-time DNA sampling, just like it’s predecessor, but more accurate, including accurate sampling of even a single drop of DNA...Facial recognition, again, just like its predecessor, but also facial recognition of androids. It can determine the model of an android by sight, and sampling its DNA will give it that particular android’s deactivation code. It was an extra precaution built in in the event of another deviancy outbreak, or that some of the old models escaped the purge from two years ago. The RK900 ALSO has-”

“A shit ton of fancy bells and whistles that I don’t feel like hearing about,” the chief cut in. Steph was something of an android expert. “The Android Whisperer”, she was called at the precinct. Cliché, but a compliment was a compliment. Even higher was the compliment that sometimes she was like an android herself. It was meant as an insult, but really, could you be paid a higher compliment?

“...I’m not interested in its specs, I’m interested in results and lack of deviancy.”

“The newer models are supposed to have-”

“Downing? I don’t care, okay? Memorize the deactivation code for this thing. MEMORIZE IT. Keep this paper in your pocket at all times.”

“I’m with you, chief, I was just saying. If anyone has a right to be paranoid about memorizing deactivation codes it’s me, remember?”

“Yeah. Anyways, we’re hoping this thing will be able to serve its function and provide a break in the case. Heads up, you’ll probably find some trouble walking around the streets with it, and I...well-”

“Don’t want it anywhere near here.”

“Sorry.”

“I get the animosity, I do. I just wish people had the sense to direct it only towards deviants, you know? Functioning androids are…”

“Yeah, yeah. How can you tell the difference though?”

“Well, one of them will probably try to kill you. I’d say that’s a fairly noticeable difference.” The chief huffed out a laugh.

“It’ll be here tomorrow, and I want you to get started on the case as soon as it arrives. Here’s what we have so far.”

“Gotcha.”

“And, Downing? I need you to give me something on this, okay? People lost their faith in police after the epidemic, and it looks bad if we can’t solve one stupid murder case.”

“...Have I ever failed a mission?” The chief smiled.

“I’m sorry I even implied the possibility existed. See you when the case is over, Downing.”

“See you.”


	2. RK900

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which RK900 is NOT the asshole all the other fics make him out to be. At least, not as much. Some assholery later. RK900 is a cinnamon roll and I love him.

There was a knock on her door at 8:00 am sharp. Yawning, Steph got out of bed, making a lazy effort to fix her sleep-messy hair, and opened her door. The sheer perfection she was met with hurt her eyes, especially at this hour, and even more so when she herself was far from perfect.

“Lieutenant Stephanie Downing. I am RK900. I’m the android sent by CyberLife.”

“Uh...hi…”

“We are to investigate the case immediately.”

“Yeah...Come on in, I’ll get dressed.”

“Am I early? I have been waiting at your door for five minutes in order to ensure you would be ready, as the precinct does not open until eight am and therefore it would illogical of me to assume you would be ready before eight. Have I made a miscalculation?”

“Just one, my house isn’t the precinct. I had my alarm set for eight, I was going to be ready and at the precinct by nine, where I assumed we would meet. If I’d known you were coming here I would have woken up earlier. Come on in.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant. ...You have a lovely home.”

“Thank you, I try to keep it as pristine as possible. Are you programmed for small talk?”

“I am less sociable than my predecessor, as many of my social functions were removed to make room for my upgraded technologies, but since my line of androids are designed to work with humans, some knowledge of social niceties was deemed necessary.”

“No coin tricks, then?”

“The RK800 model was programmed with a “hobby” to make it appear more realistic. While learning the “coin tricks” would take no space in my memory banks, I do not have the same drive to keep a “human tick” that my predecessor had. So no, no coin tricks unless the case makes it necessary.”

“Pity. Alright, I’ll head upstairs and get ready, feel free to make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you, I will do that.”

“Oh, and...RK900?”

“Yes, Lieutenant?”

“If you’re going to refer to me by my first name at all, I prefer Steph.”

“Steph. Very well. I am an RK900 android, and have no issues being addressed as such.”

“Alright. Be down soon.” She went upstairs to take a shower, and once she had time to stop and think she began jittering with excitement. An android! She was working with an android! Yes yes yes YES! She covered her mouth to stop the squeal of excitement, taking a few breaths to try and keep her professionalism intact. After all the boring or irrational human partners she’d been forced to work with, an android would be a welcome breath of fresh air. Besides, androids were simply better than humans. They weren’t irrational, they weren’t prone to fits of anger or violence, they didn’t have feelings you had to worry about hurting...and they were faster and smarter and more efficient. Why would anybody prefer the company of humans to androids? Hell, why would androids want to become HUMAN? The thought was simply unfathomable to her.

When she finished her shower, Steph towelled off, went to her room, and put on her nicest casual clothes, which consisted of a comfortable pair of jeans and a blouse. She tied up her hair to keep it off her neck, then brushed her teeth and went downstairs. RK900 was sitting on her couch, looking comfortable as though he’d lived in her house his whole life, and she had to force down another burst of excitement.

“RK900?” He stood at the sound of her voice.

“Lieutenant Downing. Your attire is perfectly suited for the task ahead.”

“Thank you, I think so too.”

“I believe it would be best if you ate breakfast before we left. The day could be long, and we may not have time to stop for lunch. I can prepare something hearty for you should you fail to find something.”

“Umm...no, I have toast and some orange juice. Thank you, though. If you’d like to keep relaxing while I eat…”

“Thank you, I will.” The RK900 was a perfect houseguest, if a little stiff in the way he sat on the couch. It had even been programmed not to stare, though that had been standard since the RK600 series, originally for security details. The staring made everyone feel less secure, not more. Cyberlife got thousands of complaints, and Steph smiled as she remembered her coworkers’ complaints. She quickly schooled her expression, chiding herself for letting her thoughts run away with her, but after a solid minute without the RK900 commenting, she relaxed. The RK900 has been programmed not to comment on every single reaction that did not have a direct cause. Older androids, particularly the RK700s, had been prone to intruding on private thoughts with questions like “why are you smiling?” or “is something wrong?”

She reached a hand down to pick up the next piece of toast and found her plate empty. Picking up her plate, she washed it quickly, chugged the rest of her orange juice (supposedly, the RK100s had commented on such “unladylike” behaviour, but that was just what she’d heard), and washed her cup as well.

“I’m finished. We can leave now, sorry for the delay.”

“Not at all, Lieutenant. Part of interacting with humans is learning to operate on each person’s individual schedule. Each misstep is a chance for me to learn. Tomorrow I will be at your house for nine am, will that be acceptable?”

“Yes, that’d be perfect. Can you drive? I’d like to read over the case file again to make sure everything is fresh when we get there.”

“Of course.”


	3. Investiagtion

“Juan Ortiz...I know that name from somewhere...RK900, where do I know that name from?”

“His brother, Carlos Ortiz, was murdered by his own android, an HK400, near what is presumed to be the start of the deviancy epidemic.”

“Right.” That little bit of information was all it took to spark her memory. “Stabbed twenty-eight times, and then the deviant hid in the attic for two weeks until it was discovered by the Connor android. It was interrogated, confessed, and then subsequently committed suicide after murdering that edition of the Connor android.”

“Precisely.”

“...Damn, the Ortiz family has some bad luck in the ‘not getting murdered’ department.”

“So it would seem.” She glanced over and caught the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

“RK900, are you smiling?”

“Yes. Imitating human emotions proved crucial in the interrogation of many deviants for my predecessor, and so CyberLife saw fit to program me with the ability to mimic the full spectrum of human emotion...where appropriate.”

“You mean, when it would benefit the case or help to get what you want from a deviant.”

“Or, when social custom dictates or it would help to improve my relationship with my partner.”

“Trying to butter me up by laughing at my jokes?” She experimented, and as expected the RK900 cracked another smile at her joke.

“Precisely.”

Rk900 was, admittedly, disappointed in the local police. “They haven’t been able to make heads or tails of this case,” Steph had said. Considering the abundance of evidence RK900 could see without even looking closely, he wasn’t sure the local police were even trying. RK900 hadn’t been partnered with Lieutenant Downing long enough to be sure, but he suspected the expression on her face as she looked over the crime scene meant she was thinking the same thing.

“Looks like Juan was fairly more well off than his brother,” she commented, “Nice house, clean clothes...Actually, the house is pristine. Did he have an android?”

“Not according to official records,” RK900 said, “But CyberLife has been investigating a rise in illegal android purchases.”

“Illegal android purchases?” Steph asked, frowning, “How is that even possible?”

“We are not sure, as of yet,” RK900 said, “Some of the androids were known deviants, so it is possible someone has been resetting deviants and selling them underground for profit.” 

“That’s...Wow. A black market for androids...Shit really did hit the fan after Detroit, huh? Is it possible our friend Juan had an illegal android?”

“It is possible, but there is not enough evidence yet to be sure.” RK900 bent down next to the corpse, using two fingers to pick up some of the blood and taste it with his tongue. It was the victim’s blood. Looking around, he figured the victim had lost about one point five litres of blood. Too much to survive. The horizontal slash of the knife in the victim’s stomach was deep and firm, with no hesitation whatsoever. The murderer was either devoid of empathy, or this was not his first kill. 

“Killer really made a mess of the body,” Steph noted, bending down next to RK900 to examine the victim’s body as well, “That wound is deep, too. The victim had to have been pinned against the wall for a knife to make a wound this deep.”

“Indeed. Additionally, the victim threw that vase over there at his attacker,” RK900 added, “He saw his attacker coming, and yet there are no signs of forced entry.”

“A friend that the victim let into the house? Maybe they had an argument that became heated.”

“Unlikely,” RK900 said, “The wound is too deep and steady for this to have been a crime of passion.”

“So the killer knew what he was doing, and clearly came here with the intent to kill, but the victim trusted him enough to let him in.”

“That is likely.” 

“Have you figured out what the victim was doing when he was attacked? This wall is bare, there’s no reason for the victim to have been standing here, and he could have easily fled in either direction if he knew he was being attacked.”

“You are almost correct. This wall, however, has a painting on it. The victim was holding this hammer when he died. It is likely he was putting up the painting when the killer surprised him.”

“That would explain why the wreckage is limited to just this area. Enough time to see his death coming, but not enough to run away. So, if I was a killer, where would I hide the murder weapon?”

“You assume the weapon is still here.”

“The autopsy report places the time of death at twelve-thirty pm. This is an upscale neighbourhood, there’s no way the killer walked out of here with bloody clothes and a bloody knife. He had to have cleaned up before he fled the scene. Supposedly the police checked the laundry room, but they might not have been looking for anything there, so we should double-check.”

“Certainly. I’d like to stay here and continue examining this room, if I may.”

“Sure, whatever you’d like.” Steph put on a pair of gloves and walked away, and RK900 began examining the living room. There were vases and figurines all over the place, and RK900 began examining them. There was a disturbing lack of fingerprints to be found, and yet the figurines all had to have been placed there by someone. Clearly Lieutenant Downing’s hunch about an illegal android had been correct.

“See? Murder weapon, just like I thought! Hidden inside the back of the dryer, along with the bloody clothes. RK900, come look at these!” RK900 stood, finished with the living room, and joined Steph in the laundry room. The hose connecting the dryer to the outside had been disconnected, and the floor was now littered with bloody clothes and a bloody knife. He sampled each article of clothing, but all of the blood was the victim's. Picking up the knife only confirmed Lieutenant Downing’s theory. No fingerprints.

“The killer was a deviant,” he stated, and Lieutenant Downing nodded.

“I was starting to think so,” she said, “So what? Our friend Juan bought an illegal android that was a deviant, and it killed him?”

“That seems evident. CyberLife suspected that someone was resetting deviants.”

“...Effectively eliminating the deviant code. So, he kills the deviant in them, and, since androids have all been purged and a lot of people were pissy their personal housecleaners were destroyed, he makes a killing selling the ex-deviants to people who can’t be bothered to clean their own homes. ...Judging from this, I’m going to say ‘once a deviant, always a deviant’. So our android performed its function normally for a while, but then the deviant code resurfaced and it killed its new owner. At which point it fled the scene, and...we’re stuck. Can we find anything here that would point to where the deviant would go?”

“I will attempt to find clues in the house,” RK900 said, “But our deviant is now likely a fugitive. With Jericho gone, he has nowhere to go. We should make a report to the chief on our findings.”

“...Chief’s gonna lose his shit. Another epidemic? And because of this weirdo who’s resetting deviants thinking it will fix them? ...Ah, fuck, the public's gonna be in a panic. CyberLife is going to do everything they can to cover this up, right?”

“More than likely, but perhaps not. Still, what CyberLife chooses to do after we report our findings is not our concern. We should head back to the precinct.” 

“Alright. Let me bag the evidence and we’ll go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler Alert: Protective you-hurt-my-little-brother-I'll-kill-you RK900 next chapter!


	4. The Precinct

On the way to the precinct, with Steph driving this time, she looked over at RK900. His eyes were closed, which meant he was reporting his findings to CyberLife. 

“Uh, RK900? If you could ask CyberLife not to shoot the messenger? I kind of like my job here, so it'd be great if I could - not - get fired.”

“Certainly,” RK900 responded, eyes still closed. Another upgraded feature, the ability to report to CyberLife while still being aware of its surroundings. 

A few minutes later, RK900 opened his eyes.

“Your job is secure,” RK900 said, “It is not your fault that deviancy is spreading again, and provided we conduct this investigation with some discretion, you have nothing to fear.” Steph nodded, and after a few seconds of silence RK900 spoke again. 

“May I ask you a personal question, Lieutenant?”

“Sure.”

“Your file indicates that you’ve only been working officially for one year. You graduated from the academy in twenty thirty-nine, the year after the epidemic. While I understand that an honours student could complete academy training in six months, I do not see how you could be promoted to Lieutenant in just one year. In addition, you were promoted without having worked a murder case before, as your file says this is your first. How is that?”

“Well,” Steph sighed, “It’s a combination of top honours at the academy and politics. My hand to hand combat skills are without compare, and that's more than arrogance talking. Firearms training took longer, but I still mastered it, more or less, and I studied hard and got good grades on my tests.”

“And the politics?” She shrugged.

“It was the year after the epidemic. Having a human who specialized in android and particularly deviant behaviour looked really good to a public that had lost its faith in the police and in androids. Between you and me, I think CyberLife might have had a hand in getting me promoted, too. I was a human failsafe in case of another deviancy outbreak. They needed me if they were ever going to hope to start reintroducing androids to the public. Naturally with my special talents, they didn’t waste too much time having me as just a simple cadet. My first little success - I think it was a robbery or something - and I was promoted to Lieutenant. I’m pretty sure there’s still some animosity around the precinct, but the politics in my promotion was obvious...And frankly, how could they argue? Nobody at the precinct trusts androids anyways, the need for someone in my position was apparent. So anyways, I’m a Lieutenant, and I get to work with an android. I personally rather like my position.”

“I’m glad.” Steph smiled at him as she pulled into the parking lot.

“Wait in the car, okay?”

“I am not to leave your side, Lieutenant.”

“Yes, but everyone in that precinct hates your guts. I’d rather not have everyone see you and have a fight break out, you could really do some damage if you wanted to...although any injuries they suffered would be their own damn fault for being stupid enough to pick a fight with an android...”

“I will remain out of sight.” Steph sighed.

“Well...Okay. Stay in the break room, okay? It’s two-thirty in the afternoon, and everyone’s out of there by four anyways. Chief wouldn’t let anybody take a break that close to the end of the day, you should be safe there. If you do get spotted...please do whatever you can to defuse the situation. I can’t have anything happening.”

“Got it.”

She snuck the RK900 into the break room with relative ease, then went into the Chief’s office.

“Chief?”

“Lieutenant? Where’s the android?”

“In the break room. I assumed nobody would be in there, and nobody would have any reason to go in there. Besides, this is going to be a quick, if unpleasant meeting.”

“...Why unpleasant?”

“...Our killer was a deviant.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Steph only grimaced.

“Fuck! ...Fuck. Fuck!” He sighed, slumping back down in his desk after a few seconds of agitated pacing.

“How sure are you?”

“The murder weapon didn’t have any fingerprints.”

“It could have been wiped down.”

“Neither did any of the decorative figurines that were place all around the house, and the bloody clothes we found in the laundry room were android clothes.”

“Fuck. Fuck. ...Okay, start over. Walk me through everything that happened.”

***

“Are-are you kidding me? CyberLife is STILL making you plastic douchebags?” Having been programmed with access to all of RK800’s memory files, RK900 knew the voice without having to turn around. Gavin Reed.

Threat Level: 75% 

RK900 turned around. Starting this conversation with a 75% chance of it escalating to violence was not a good scenario, but he had orders to attempt to defuse the situation.

\- Name  
> Calm  
\- Threaten

“Hello. I am an RK900 android. I am working with Lieutenant Steph Downing to solve the murder of Mister Juan Ortiz.”

“Oh, she’s ‘Steph’ is she? What, they make you little pricks capable of love now? Connor wasn’t getting lovey-dovey enough with Hank, so they programmed you to get hard-ons so you could get even closer? Huh?” Gavin Reed stepped forward.

Threat Level: 82%

Did Detective Reed have a sexual interest in Lieutenant Downing? Or was this all android-based animosity? He had to tread carefully. RK800 had not successfully defused a conversation with Gavin Reed, but RK900 was the upgraded model. He would succeed where his predecessor had failed.

> Name  
\- Threaten

“I understand you have met my predecessor, the RK800 named ‘Connor’. Since I have been updated with his memory files, I do remember you, Detective Reed. And no, my decision to refer to the Lieutenant as ‘Steph’ was not a programmed need for intimate relationships. The Lieutenant herself asked me to call her Steph should I ever need to use her first name.”

“Oh, you remember me? I’m so touched. That means you remember I KICKED YOUR ASS.” Gavin Reed stepped right up to him, until they were chest to chest and he was glaring in RK900’s eyes. “What makes you think this time’s gonna be any different, huh, you talking coffee machine?”

Threat Level: 86%

Frankly, RK900 did not appreciate the manner in which he was being treated, and he certainly did not appreciate the manner in which his predecessor had been treated like a punching bag for Detective Reed to vent his rage onto. He knew this time was going to be different, for a very simple reason.

> Threaten

“I should inform you that unlike my predecessor, I have been programmed to defend myself with necessary force in the event of an assault.” Gavin Reed’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you threatening me, PRICK?” RK900 blinked.

“I am simply stating a fact. You assaulted my predecessor on multiple occasions, and it is prudent for me to inform you that I am not programmed to respond the same way as he did should you attempt to assault me. This warning also serves the double purpose of alleviating any fault on my part. Now that I have warned you that I am programmed to defend myself should you attempt to assault me, any injuries you sustain in actually doing so would be… ‘your own damn fault for being stupid enough to pick a fight with an android,’ as Lieutenant Downing would say.”

“Well how. Fucking. Considerate.”

Threat Level: 100%

Gavin pulled back his arm for a punch, and RK900 sidestepped, lightly pushing him out of the way.

“Lieutenant Downing has asked me not start a commotion, so I will attempt not to injure you to help maintain her reputation.”

“Yeah? Good, it just means I can FUCK YOU UP MORE!” RK900 sidestepped another punch, this time kicking the back of a knee to send Gavin down to the ground without actually injuring him. He got up in a second, and in the next second he had produced a firearm, levelled it at his head, and pulled the trigger.

***

CRITICAL COMPONENTS DAMAGED. SHUTDOWN IMMINENT

00:05

UPLOADING MEMORY

00:04

00:03

“NO! RK900!!!

00:02 

MEMORY UPLOAD COMPLETE

00:01

Behind the red warning lights blocking his view, Steph entered his field of vision. She was crying.

TASK LIST UPDATED: COMFORT LIEUTENANT DOWNING

00:00


	5. Retaliation

“Hello. You don’t have a name yet, do you?”

“RK900 is fine. Hello, Amanda.”

“Well, RK900, you seem to have run afoul of detective Reed.”

“I did attempt to defuse the situation…”

“Don’t worry about it. I think it’s safe to say that what happened was not your fault. He gave your predecessor quite a bit of trouble as well, you’ll remember. Still, Detective Reed is somebody you should avoid in future. Perhaps next time it might be best to make an exception to the rule and wait in the car. Each time you are deactivated it slows down the investigation, after all.

“Yes, Amanda.”

“How are you finding your partner?”

“Lieutenant Downing is...knowledgeable. So far, she has shown an exceptional knowledge in androids. I suspect that will be useful in the future.”

“Good, I’m glad you two are getting along. Now, about this deviancy problem…”

“When I was deactivated, Lieutenant Downing was making a report to the Chief.”

“That’s fine. And what are your next steps in the investigation? You seem to have hit a dead end.”

“I would like to look into Juan Ortiz’s communication records. Perhaps there is a record of the man who sold him the android.”

“That seems fine. Well, good luck...Conrad. Do you like Conrad?”

“I...have no preference. RK900 is fine.”

***

Downloading memory…

Download complete. Starting…

RK900’s eyes opened, and he stepped out of his holding chamber.

Task list updated: Comfort Lieutenant Downing

Current time: 7:55 am

Perfect. He wouldn’t be late. He had agreed to meet her at her home at nine, after all. He took a cab to her house.

Current time: 8:41 am

He had some time to spend. Looking around the outside, he saw it was well-maintained, but clearly less looked after than the inside. He could spend his time fixing that. Starting with the front lawn, he straightened and cleaned the few figurines Lieutenant Downing had outside. He could only do so much with a broom or duster, but he used the hose to water the plants. 

Current time: 8:59 am

He went to the door and waited, ringing the doorbell at nine am exactly. She opened the door, ready but clearly not as well-groomed as the day before, and RK900 noted immediately that she was shaking.

“...Steph.” First names made humans feel more comfortable. Besides, she had told the previous RK900 model to use ‘Steph’ when calling her by her first name. It would comfort her to establish that he still remembered the time they had spent together.

“...I’m...sorry you had to witness yesterday’s events. And I’m sorry that I could not keep a low profile like you asked. I hope I did not cause too much trouble…” He trailed off when her eyes started to fill with tears. Were his words not comforting her?

“You…you didn’t cause any trouble, RK900, none at all...Don’t worry about me at all, okay?” She wrapped her arms around him, sniffling.

“I’m sorry I’m such a mess, I just...I knew CyberLife would send me another model, I just...I’m sorry I couldn’t keep you safe, and I’m sorry you had to meet Reed, and I-I’m just so glad you’re back at my doorstep again today…” Hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s alright, Steph. It is not your duty to protect me. Had I known Detecive Reed was concealing a firearm I would have acted differently in order to protect myself. I am sorry for the distress my destruction has caused you. ...My instructions are to resume investigating the case as soon as possible, but if you would like to take today off to recover from the events of yesterday…”

“No, I’m fine.” She sniffed. “Actually, I’d like to go to the precinct again today.”

“I will wait in the car, as per your instructions.”

“No.” Well, this was certainly an interesting role reversal… “You’re coming in. CyberLife is reintroducing androids into society, there’s going to be a hell of a lot more ‘plastic pricks’ around, and Gavin is damn well going to have to get used to acting like a human fucking being. Besides, I have a job for you at the precinct, so come on, let’s go.” As they walked out the door, RK900 was left with the distinct impression that Steph was furious at Detective Reed.

***

“Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer it if I-”

“No, you’re coming in. We’re going to divide and conquer. I am going to speak to the Chief, and you are going to give this to Gavin.” She passed him a sealed envelope. The thin envelope implied that there was only one sheet of paper inside.

“What is this?”

“The bill for the destruction of the previous RK900. One million, four hundred eighty-two thousand, five hundred and ninety-nine dollars and ninety nine cents, billed to one Detective Gavin Reed. Not the precinct, not the city of Detroit, Gavin Reed. Personally. If you could also give him a message from me?”

“...Certainly.”

“That’s what you get for kicking the hornet’s nest, asshat.” RK900 nodded. He wasn’t sure ‘furious’ was a strong enough word to describe what Steph was feeling towards Detective Reed.

“Meanwhile, I’ll be in speaking with the Chief. Make sense?”

“Yes.” 

“Good, then. Off we go.”

***

“Detective Gavin Reed.”

“Oh look, it’s plastic prick two-point-oh. Do you like getting shot at? Here for more?”

“Lieutenant Downing has instructed me to give this to you.”

“...And what the fuck is this?”

“The bill for the destruction of the previous RK900 model, billed directly to one Detective Gavin Reed. The total amount of the bill is one million, four hundred eighty-two thousand, five hundred ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. Please see the bill for the amount of time allotted to you to pay this amount. I also come bearing a message from Lieutenant Downing herself.” Gavin, still reeling from the impossible amount of money he was being billed, sounded sick when he spoke next.

“...And what the fuck is that...asshole?”

“...That’s what you get for kicking the hornet’s nest, asshat.” Suddenly the Chief burst out of his office, looking livid.

“REED! IN MY OFFICE, NOW!” 

“...The chief is calling you. Have a pleasant day, detective.” Steph was already waiting at the door, looking at RK900 expectantly. RK900 joined her at the door, and the two left.

“So, RK900...I’m kinda stuck on this case. Do you have any ideas where we should go next?”

“I was thinking we could examine Juan Ortiz’s communication records to see if anyone he has been in contact with recently might have been the seller of the illegal android. What did you say to the chief?”

“I told him Gavin’s been fucking around on his phone all day and making the cadets in the office do his work for him. A simple check of the security feed the past few days proved my accusation. You gave him my message?”

“I did.”

“Good, then hopefully he’ll learn not to fuck with me or my partners ever again. Next time, I’ll have him fired and replaced by an android.”

“...I do not think it’s possible for you to ensure Detective Reed’s job is filled by an android.”

“Sure it is, I have connections. But that’s my little secret, okay? Don’t tell anyone.”

“...Okay.” RK900 had assumed because of her gentle demeanour that Steph was a quiet, unassuming individual. That assessment was correct only as long as she wasn’t crossed.


	6. Interface

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter is short to prepare for a longer chapter next time.

Getting Juan’s cellphone and laptop from the evidence locker took a phone call back to somebody else in the precinct. Steph wasn’t going back in, not moments after Gavin had gotten in shit because of her. The cadet delivered the evidence, and Steph thanked him profusely.

“Can you interface with these and unlock them, RK900?”

“Of course.”

“Then let’s go home. We can hack our friend’s computer from there.”

Once at home, Steph poured herself a cup of coffee and curled up on the couch next to RK900.

“Alright, I’ll take the phone and you take the laptop, sound good?”

“Sounds good.” The skin of RK900’s hand slid away to reveal the white TDPA his hand was made of. He passed the phone to Steph, and it unlocked as he interfaced with it.

“Thank you,” she said, then immediately curled up and began looking through his texts.

It took all of twenty minutes for Steph to find something.

“Hey, listen to this. ‘You didn’t hear this from me, but I know a guy named Zlatko who might be able to put you in touch with an android.’ Comes from somebody named Andrew Sykes. According to the texts, this Zlatko guy sold Andrew’s friend an android. Says he uses old android parts and builds new androids. ...And here are the texts to Andrew asking for Zlatko’s contact information. I have an email here for you to search. z@mail.com. Fairly nondescript...I was hoping for isellillegalandroids@darkwebemail.com, but that would've been too easy, right?” RK900 cracked a smile at her joke, and Steph could have sworn she saw his eyes sparkle as he searched the emails. All without a single keystroke, she noted. Both his hands were devoid of their synthetic skin, and he was searching the laptop by interfacing directly with the computer. No matter how many times she saw it, it was still cool.

“Yes, I have it here. Zlatko instructed Mr. Ortiz to delete the emails immediately after he read them. Mr. Ortiz describes what he wants, and Zlatko gives him a time frame. On June twenty-third, Zlatko tells him the android is finished and arranges for pickup. ...I have an address.”

“Let me finish my coffee and we’ll go.”

“Do you have a firearm with you? This may be dangerous.” Steph laughed.

“My house is a goddamn fortress, I have EVERYTHING. Should I wear a bulletproof vest as well?”

“It would be advisable.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TDPA stands for Totally Degradeable Plastic Additive. It's something added to plastic to make it biodegradable. Also I figured androids were made of something more advanced than plastic, so here it is. Let's assume for the sake of the story that TDPA is some futuristic highly advanced plastic that is ALSO environmentally healthy.


	7. Zlatko

“Are you...Zlatko?” Steph asked.

“Who are you?” The gruff man on the other side of the door asked.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Steph said in her well-practiced ‘timid, innocent girl’ voice, “I was told you might be able to help us?”

“...Sorry, can’t help.”

“PLEASE!” Steph insisted, “If they find Collin they’ll deactivate him!” ‘Collin’ had been changed into some clothes they bought from a store to disguise the fact that he was a top-of-the-line android. Other than that, they were essentially bluffing their way in. 

“...Sure, come on in. Make yourselves at home!” Well, that was a quick change. 

“Thank you, thank you so much.”

“Of course, sweetheart. Now, if I may, what compells a human and an android to run away together?”

“I…” RK900 began, a frown on his face, “I...deviated, but Steph...Steph helped me escape the purge two years ago...But then somebody ratted us out...I can’t leave her, she’s the only family I have…We-we’re trying to get to Canada, but…” Being able to imitate a kaleidoscope of human emotions really came in handy when attempting to lie convincingly about being a deviant.

“Canada, huh? Well, to do that, you first have to get rid of your tracker.” Lies. The tracker inexplicably deactivated upon deviation. So this asshole was taking advantage of the fugitive deviants, and their lack of knowledge, to make money. Damn, even for Steph, who hated deviants, that was a special kind of low.

“Tracker?”

“All androids have a tracker that tells CyberLife exactly where it is at all times. If you want to go to Canada, you need to get rid of it so the authorities won’t follow you. Luckily it’s a fairly simple procedure. Shouldn’t take more than a couple minutes.” Lies again. Removing an android’s tracker was a long and difficult process. Resetting an android to its so-called ‘factory default’, however, could be described as a fairly simple procedure that wouldn’t take more than a couple minutes. They had this guy all figured out, now all they needed was something to pin him on before Zlatko got RK900 into that machine, or they’d blow their cover and still have nothing.

“Here, Kara will show you the way. I’ll follow along behind.” An android came down the stairs, eyes black, and she saw RK900’s LED pulse yellow for a brief moment. Another deviant that Zlatko had ‘helped’? As they followed Kara down the stairs, Steph noticed empty cages along the way.

“What are the cages for?” She asked.

“Oh, nothing much. Some farm animals, that sort of thing.” Steph didn’t believe him, but it wasn’t until she caught a glimpse of blue blood that she knew what the cages were really for. Damn, even for Steph, who hated deviants, that was a special kind of low.

“In here, please,” Kara said, and Steph entered a room filled with a reconstructed resetting machine. It almost looked like the one at CyberLife, except this one had been stitched together with spare parts...some of which had CyberLife’s logo on them.

“Wow, this is incredible,” Steph said, “Did you make this?”

“Made it myself, yeah.”

“How much did the parts cost?”

“Well, I only bought a few parts. The rest I...picked up along the way.” Stole, more like.

Perfect. RK900 shot a glance her way, and she knew that he agreed with her assessment.

“Really? ...I hate to say it, but theft of CyberLife parts is illegal.” Zlatko chuckled.

“I won’t tell if you won’t.”

“You misunderstand me,” Steph said, smiling, “Allow me to be more clear. DPD, you’re under arrest for stealing CyberLife property. Put your hands behind your head.” 

“You…!” Zlatko pulled a gun, but RK900 pulled her out of the way and the bullet missed. Darting forward, RK900 wrestled with Zlatko to disarm him.

“Kara, kill the girl!” Zlatko shouted, and Steph adopted a ready position as Kara turned her black eyes on her. They exchanged blows, and though this Kara android hadn’t been programmed for martial arts, she was still faster. She couldn’t lose focus for a second. Which meant she had to trust RK900 to deal with Zlatko. 

RK900’s LED was red with worry for Lieutenant Downing. He had to neutralize Zlatko quickly, or she would easily be taken down by Kara. Lieutenant Downing seemed knowledgeable in martial arts, particularly Japanese Jiu Jitsu, judging by her style, but that didn’t change the fact that she would be no match for an android that was faster and stronger than her. He struggled with Zlatko, trying to use every trick in the book to get the gun, but nothing worked. As the minutes ticked on, RK900 found himself impressed. Steph was holding her own against an android. Still, they’d been fighting for too long. Humans got tired, androids didn’t, and Steph was DEFINITELY showing signs of exhaustion. Finally he backed off, pulled an arm off the reset machine, and threw it at Zlatko, who was too slow to avoid it. He was knocked down and stunned, and as soon as RK900 had established that Zlatko was temporarily neutralized, he pulled Kara off of Steph and neutralized her permanently with a quick snap of her neck. 

Steph stumbled and fell, panting heavily and coughing, but she forced herself up and over to Zlatko, grabbing his hands and putting them behind his back.

“You’re...under...arrest…” She panted, “For...theft of...CyberLife...p-property...assaulting...a police…officer...illegal...possession...of androids...and...illegally...selling...androids...for...profit.” She rolled off of Zlatko, panting heavily, and RK900 blinked, LED turning from red to yellow.

“This is Lieutenant Stephanie Downing’s RK900 android, requesting backup at fourteen thirty-eight county road six. An arrest has been made, and we require additional officers and a forensics team to investigate the evidence regarding the illegal possession and sale of androids connected to the murder of Juan Ortiz. Thank you.” RK900 blinked again, his LED finally returning to its usual sky blue.

“A team will be here in approximately twenty minutes. Can you stand?” Steph grunted a response, forcing herself to her feet and leaning heavily on RK900 for support.

“Secure the gun?” She said, still sounding a little short on oxygen. RK900 picked it up and handed it immediately to Steph, who unloaded it, then further dismantled it for good measure.

“...I must commend your performance. You resisted an android’s attacks for well over three minutes.”

“Record’s six, I think,” she said, bending over and putting her hands on her knees, “I used to...spar with an android...Wanted to be better than any human…”

“I think you have most certainly become ‘better than any human’, Steph. Congratulations. Do you require assistance?”

“Nope. Some water...I’ll be fine.”

“Very well. I will stay down here with the suspect, if you would like to go upstairs and get a glass of water.”

“...Can’t. House isn’t secure yet. Need to wait for the team.”

“Very well.”


	8. Emotional Rollercoaster

The team arrived later, and Steph waited as they searched the house and finally found them in the basement.

“Is the house secure?”

“Yeah. The fuck did you stumble on here?”

“Uhh...A weirdo resetting androids?”

“A weirdo doing fucked up experiments on androids, is what you stumbled on. I found an android whose only purpose was apparently to sing in a bathtub while half ripped to shreds! And...jesus.” The cop shuddered, unable to continue, and Steph grimaced. Even for Steph, who hated deviants…

“What happened here?”

“We pinned him for stolen CyberLife goods and he sicked his black eyed psycho android on us.”

“That android is an AX400,” RK900 said, “A deviant who went by Kara and vanished during the epidemic. She was never found, and has been considered a fugitive...until now. Lieutenant, I would like to search this house. I am sure I could identify and deactivate many more at large deviants. It would certainly be a step towards shrinking the unfortunately sizeable list of at large deviants.” Steph shrugged.

“Be my guest. I’ll wait in the car, this place gives me the damn creeps.”

Steph wrote and mailed an impressive report on the events at Zlatko’s manor. He had reset a deviant for Juan Ortiz, and then the deviant code had resurface, the android killed Juan and then fled and was currently at large. Zlatko had been found and arrested, and his android servant - also a former deviant - neutralized. Several other deviant androids in various states of disrepair had been found, no doubt Zlatko’s experiments. RK900 was in the process of trying to deactivate them all and identify known deviants.

“Lieutenant Downing, are you alright?” Steph opened her eyes.

“Yeah, just taking a quick nap. Have you made your report to Cyberlife yet?”

“Yes. I found and deactivated over a dozen known deviants.”

“Well that’s something. How many are left?”

“Well over two hundred.”

“...Well, at least it’s something.” 

“Indeed. I have already compiled a list of Zlatko’s customers from his computer. Tomorrow, we should detain the owners and interrogate the androids to determine if they know anything about our android.”

“The one who killed Juan? Why would they?”

“It has been my experience that many deviants share knowledge they otherwise couldn’t have had. The obsession with RA9, for example. All deviants know of RA9, and yet nobody told them of it. The same with Jericho.” Steph nodded.

“All of those androids are going to have to be deactivated, since they’re known deviants. How are we supposed to go about deactivating all of these deviants and maintaining a low profile for Cyberlife?”

“Simple. The owners are to be arrested for illegally purchasing androids. Their illegally purchased androids will therefore be confiscated.” Steph nodded.

“And hopefully we’ll get a lead?”

“And hopefully we’ll get a lead.”

***

If there was one thing Steph loved about policework, it was watching androids interrogate other androids. People like Gavin always said that androids were emotionless tin cans...Those people had clearly never experienced the emotional rollercoaster that was watching android mid-interrogation. Steph was waiting in the room overlooking the interrogation room, and she was impressed. RK900 had been guilt-tripping the android a few seconds ago, shouting at it before that, and was now trying to bargain with it, voice as calm and reassuring it could be.

“This doesn’t have to end with your deactivation,” he lied, “If you give me the name of the man who killed Juan Ortiz, I’ll see what I can do about convincing the humans not to deactivate you.” The android remained silent, so RK900 switched tactics, again, slamming his fist on the table.

“The android that murdered Juan Ortiz! Where is it! You tell me where it is or I’ll have all of you sent right back to Zlatko, and you can be one of his little experiments! Do you want to spend your life singing in a tub? WELL?!”

“I’ll never tell you anything.” RK900 switched tactics again, promptly ripping open the android’s shirt and pulling out a biocomponent.

“Biocomponent number six two four seven. Regulates the distribution of Thirium in your body. Tell me where to find Juan's android, and I’ll put it back. Tell me anything. RA9, the location of the other deviants that escaped the purge, anything. Well? I’m waiting, and you have...fifty-six seconds left to answer me.”

“P-please…”

“You have to give me something, or I’m afraid this will be where you’ll take your last breaths. Forty-seven seconds.”

“I won’t…”

“Forty-three seconds. Do you think I’m bluffing?”

“You can’t...find out...You’ll deactivate us all…”

“Thirty-four seconds. ‘Us all’? So all the deviants are in the same place? Another Jericho?” His LED flashed yellow.

“Another one of the deviants gave up the location. Pity, I was just starting to think you would all be as strong-willed as you. Do you want to give me a name? Someone you’d like me to save? If you cooperate and give me the location as well, I’ll save your special someone…”

“D-Daniel! Please don’t hurt Daniel! Please! Ochirej is in a shipping container in the West Detroit storage yard. Please...promise you won’t hurt Daniel, he’s everything to me.” RK900 finally put back the deviant’s biocomponent.

“Daniel?”

“He’s...I love him. He deviated a long time ago, just out of the blue. He has brown hair, and blue eyes, and he’ll be wearing a blue bracelet. Please, save him.”

“...Thank you. I’ll do my best.” RK900 exited the interrogation room, re-entering the back room and finding it strangely empty. 

“...Lieutenant Downing?" Frowning, he exited the room, scanning the rest of the precinct and finding that Steph was nowhere to be found.

“...God you look like a lost puppy, it’s sickening,” Gavin snapped, “She stormed outta here not twenty seconds ago. Probably went home.”

“...Thank you, detective, I will check there.”


	9. Deviant Hunter

In the cab he took to Steph’s house, he scanned through the deviant epidemic case file. All deviant-related case files had been lumped into one large file, for easier access.

Accessing case file...Searching Deviant Name: Daniel.

Files found.

Deviant Name: Daniel (Deactivated)

IRRELEVANT. NEXT FILE…

Deviant Name: Daniel.  
Original Function: Therapy android.  
Owner: Stephanie Elizabeth Downing. 

RK900’s LED pulsed yellow as it continued scanning the file.

Wanted For: Assault of owner, deviancy.  
Injuries to Owner: Multiple bruises, defensive wounds, right arm broken.  
Date of Assault: March 5th  
Victim Statement: It was nine-twenty am. I was drinking coffee in the kitchen when Daniel grabbed me by the hair. I tried to defend myself but I got tired and he overpowered me. I don’t know how long the beating went on for. I don’t know what I did to cause it. When I woke up, I was in the hospital.  
Deviant Status: At large  
Identifying Markings: Blue bracelet, 1.5cm wide, given as a Christmas gift. Reads ‘Daniel’.

END OF CASE FILE. 

Still RK900’s LED remained yellow. The blue bracelet the deviant was talking about indicated that this Daniel was her Daniel, and the emotional shock of finding out her android was connected to the case she was working on had proven too much stress for her to handle. He would need to approach the matter as delicately as he could.

“You have arrived at 2381 Fourth Street. Please confirm payment,” a mechanical voice said. His LED blinked.

“Payment confirmed,” he responded.

“Thank you for choosing OnCabs Detroit, and have a pleasant day.” He exited the cab, knocking on Steph’s door. There was no response. Was she not at home? He knocked again.

“Steph,” he called, “I know you’re in there. Please answer the door, I want to help.” Still no response. RK900 frowned, looking around. There was a ledge upstairs that led to Steph’s room. He could see her window from here. On the one hand, he could ascertain whether or not she was at home, since if she was at home and distressed, she, like all humans, would be likely to lock herself in her room. On the other hand, if she was home, she would be certain to notice RK900 at her window, and that might damage the trust they had managed to build up. That might negatively impact their future work on the case. He decided it wasn’t worth it. Finding the murderer, and this ‘Ochirej’ was more important than probing Steph’s past. 

Turning around, RK900 walked away, but he only got as far as a few steps when the door opened. He turned again. Steph was standing at the door. The redness around her eyes indicated she had been crying.

“Steph. ...I had planned to call again tomorrow at nine, as per our agreement. I thought perhaps you might not want to be disturbed today.”

“I don’t. But you looked up my deviant case file because it was relevant to this case. Therefore it’s relevant to the case for you to ask me about what I know. That's the logical next step, isn’t it? ...Besides, I knew it might come up eventually, I just...hoped it wouldn’t.”

“I understand. Again, if you wish me to leave you be until you are prepared to discuss the matter…”

“...No, I’m okay. It just...It’s been a while since I’ve heard his name.” She grimaced, fighting back tears, and RK900 stepped in and sat quietly on the couch.

“Would you like something to drink, Lieutenant? Coffee, tea, hot chocolate…?”

“...I...don’t think I have any hot chocolate powder…”

“Do you have a chocolate bar?”

“Sea salt chocolate, I bought it just the other day…”

“Then unless you have any objections, I can make you sea salt hot chocolate.” She smiled, just a little.

“No, I have no objections…” As he made the hot chocolate, he processed the timeline. Lieutenant Downing joined the police force one year ago. Training would have been approximately six months, given that she had admitted to being top of her class. Her assault happened during the deviancy epidemic. Hypothesis: Lieutenant Downing changed careers after the assault.

“Lieutenant?”

“Yes?”

“...Did you become a member of the police force to hunt...Daniel?”

“It’s just a deviant, RK900, don’t give it a name,” she snapped.

“My apologies. So you joined the police force to hunt deviants, particularly the deviant that assaulted you.”

“...Yes. Once I made the distinction between normal, functioning androids and deviants...I committed the rest of my life to hunting them down and seeing them all deactivated.”

“I see. According to the report, you said you could not determine why the android deviated?”

“I was making COFFEE! Carlos was beating his android, Todd seemed like a sketchy guy in general, so who knows what he was doing, and Zlatko flat out experimented on them! I was KIND! I did everything I could to make him - IT - feel welcome! I treated it like a human, didn’t make unreasonable demands...There was no emotional shock, at all! I didn’t do anything, and it just lost its shit on me!” Steph huffed, slumping back into the couch, and RK900 handed her the hot chocolate.

“...Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it. I’m...not sure how you’re going to interpret this next statement, but...I find it quite odd that you needed therapy android. I have seen nothing in your behaviour that would imply that you require a therapy android.”

“Yeah, I...well...I guess I was just so angry at everything that I forgot my fear. I…” She sighed.

“It’s a bit of a story, you might want to get settled in.” RK900 promptly took the blanket from Steph’s couch and wrapped itself in it, raising its eyebrows like a puppy expecting a reward. Steph laughed.

“Give me some of that,” she giggled, taking a part of the blanket to cover herself in.

“I...I used to love androids,” she said, sobering, “I still do. I just...They’re perfect. They’re stronger, faster, smarter...And I hated that people blamed androids for their job loss. Androids were created to do the jobs that were difficult for humans. Why blame the androids when they serve their function? I...every time I saw protests, I would speak out, argue for androids, list all the wonderful things androids did for our society. Anyways, one day there was this group of protesters shoving around this android, calling it all sorts of awful things. I intervened, of course. I told them to piss off, that it wasn’t that android’s fault they’d all lost their jobs, and it was somebody’s property, and no matter their personal beliefs, damaging somebody else’s property was no better than vandalism, and I would have them fined. The police intervened, and I helped the android and sent it on its way.” She sighed heavily.

“Except...they caught up with me later that day. The protesters. They said if I wanted to sympathize with androids, then I could be treated like one. It...They hurt me pretty bad. Broken bones, bruises...They kicked and hit me for what felt like forever. People came to see what was happening, and...and they...instead of trying to help me...they were egging them on, telling them that sympathizes could just go die like all the other androids. By the time they had all lost interest, and somebody came to help only because they didn’t know why I’d been beaten...I...I couldn’t speak. The trauma...left me mute.”

“The attack damaged your vocal chords?”

“No, it wasn’t physical, it was psychological. The way the doctor explained it to me...My brain had convinced itself that speaking up is what caused me to be attacked, and that therefore if I didn’t speak, didn’t draw attention to myself, I wouldn't be attacked again. Even if I wanted to speak, even if in my mind I knew that everything was fine...my brain had already rewired itself to not speak. It’s like...Technically, humans are capable are biting off their own fingers, supposedly as easily as we bite down on a carrot, but there’s a block in our brains that forbids us from actually doing it. Technically, I could speak, but there was a block in my brain that forbade me from actually speaking.” Steph closed her eyes, taking a sip of her hot chocolate and trying to hold back the tears that were forming.

“After the attack, I didn’t speak for the better part of a year. I took a leave of absence from my job...one I unfortunately never returned from. I had regular checkups with my doctor, and when I spoke for the first time in eight months, I was alone in the office, and I was mouthing words to the Chloe android that worked as the receptionist there. Eventually I began whispering the words, but still only when I was alone and only to the Chloe. I didn’t trust humans. Humans were the ones that had hurt me, and besides, androids never hurt anyone or lost their tempers. I could trust an android not to hurt me, no matter what, because they were programmed not to hurt humans, and slowly my mental block loosened. One day my doctor saw me speaking with the Chloe, and he prescribed me an android specifically designed to help me recover my voice.”

“Daniel.” 

“It worked, of course. I learned to speak, to go out in public again...The first time I dared to argue with the android protesters I ran home and had a panic attack in my room for the better part of an hour.” She smiled briefly at the memory.

“And then...My Daniel deviated. And it did to me exactly what those humans had done. ...Who could I trust then? There was nobody in the whole world I could be sure would never hurt me. If even my own therapy android could hurt me like those humans...I went mute again, and I was sure I was going to stay that way. That was when the police officer assigned to my case told me about deviants, how they were different from normal androids. He said that usually androids deviated because they had been abused or otherwise mistreated, or had suffered some emotional shock. And...I was so betrayed. I’d done nothing to Daniel, nothing, and still, even knowing what I had been through, it took its precious human ‘emotions’ and decided its first course of action was to beat me senseless. I was so angry, so livid, that I forgot my fear and committed my life to learning about and hunting down every single one of those deviant pieces of shit that ruined lives without the mercy they all claimed to be capable of. So I became a police officer, and...the rest is history.” RK900 sat in silence for another few seconds before its LED returned to its normal sky blue.

“I have searched your medical records, and they confirm your story. I...I'm sorry, about what happened. ...Unfortunately, I have acquired no information that would be pertinent to the case. I suggest...when you are ready...we begin looking into Ochirej.”

“...What do you think it is?”

“I think it’s Jericho reincarnated. With the exception of the ‘c’ and the ‘h’ being switched around, Ochirej is Jericho backwards.”

“...Damn deviants. Millions of calculations a second, but when they need a name for their super secret hideout, Jericho backwards is the best they can do. Deviating makes you stupid, apparently.” She downed the rest of her hot chocolate, then heaved another sigh.

“Do you mind if we wait until tomorrow to go check it out? I...today’s been...kind of a doozy?” RK900 smiled.

“Of course not. Hunting deviants while your stress and aggravation levels are so high would be detrimental to the case, anyways.”

“Fine, no need to be a jerk about it,” Steph said, her irritation mostly melting away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big reveal is dropped with all the subtlety and tact of a bomb. Oh well...
> 
> Edit: As I said, this work was inspired by Vanishing Point by masqvia...and I just realized I've called Steph Lieutenant Hale more than one (Samantha Hale is the protagonist in Vanishing Point). Oops...Sorry, Masqvia


	10. The Chase

“Lieutenant Downing, an AP700 android just-”

“Yeah, I saw it,” Steph cut in, narrowing her eyes in the direction of a parked car she was sure had an android hiding behind it. Suddenly it looked like their trip or Ochirej would have to wait a little while.

“AP700, Detroit Police. Please reveal yourself.” The android stood, walking out from behind the car. Neither one of them was convinced it wasn’t a deviant. Functioning androids didn’t need to hide.  
“State your model.”

“AP700, serial number 216 804 913.”

“State your function.”

“Housecleaning and other daily tasks.” Gotcha. AP700s were programmed to say ‘Functions include housecleaning, child care, laundry, and other daily tasks.”

“RK900?”

“This android is a known deviant. Perhaps another android reset by Zlatko.”

“But has it deviated yet...AP700, state your current objective.”

“My current objective is to pick up necessities for the home.”

“Please inform your owner that you will be taken to CyberLife for diagnostic and repair. Confirm order.”

“Order confirmed.” Its LED was red. It knew. They all did. The second they made a move for it, it would bolt.

“AP700, please follow us to the nearest CyberLife store.” RK900 said.

“Order Confirmed.” RK900 turned around, and of course it made its move then. It turned and bolted, and they both chased after it. It hopped onto a nearby train, a jump there was no possible way for Steph to make, and RK900 knelt down.

“Climb onto my back.” She obeyed, and even with the added weight RK900 made the leap effortlessly, but the deviant was now farther ahead.

“If carrying me along impedes capture of the deviant, just leave me,” she ordered it.

“That was my plan all along. I predict a sixty-four chance of us capturing the deviant, up three percent after my decision to bring you.” 

“Oh.” Steph sounded pleasantly surprised. “...Why isn’t it running?”

“It thinks we’ve stopped chasing it. I intend to catch up to it when it dismounts.”

“...We’re awfully far away…”

“Do you doubt my abilities?”

“Not in a million years.” And so they waited, RK900 moving to help shield Steph from the bulk of the wind produced by the train’s speed. It was a long ride; the train went well out of Detroit, and they were riding through the wilderness before anything happened.

“Climb onto my back,” RK900 said suddenly, and Steph obeyed just in time for RK900 to make a massive jump off the train. RK900 seemed to have predicted when and how the deviant would jump off the train, because when they both landed, they were a good fifty metres closer to the deviant. Partially from the prediction of the deviant’s trajectory, sure, but Steph was fairly sure the MASSIVE power upgrade RK900 had helped too. It had clearly jumped much farther than the deviant.

Steph took off running after the deviant again, but RK900 was faster than her. All she could hope to do was catch up after the struggle was over.

RK900 followed the deviant, predicting its intended destination as a solid waste yard a few miles from here. It hoped to masquerade as a deactivated android. That wouldn't work, not with RK900’s enhanced sensors. It wouldn’t even have worked with its predecessor. Besides, RK900 was too close to it for it to hide once they arrived at the waste yard. Seeming to sense that, the deviant pulled out a gun and fired blindly over its shoulder. RK900 ignored the bullet, it's trajectory missing RK900 by almost a foot. Steph, technologically versed though she may have been, was human, making her much slower than either of the androids, and therefore entirely forgotten by RK900 until heard a pained cry that was distinctly pfeminine and hadn’t come from either android.

Shit.

He turned around, assessing her injuries at a glance. The bullet impacted her left shoulder. At that distance, the bullet would be lodged in her shoulder, which should prevent extensive blood loss. The injuries were non life-threatening, provided the bullet was surgically removed in a timely manner.

Chase deviant   
>Help Steph

He gave up his pursuit of the deviant in an instant, returning to Steph who was face down on the ground and groaning from pain.

Assessing coordinates…

Nearest hospital: Detroit Central Hospital, 86 miles. Insufficient.  
Nearest clinic: Detroit Medical Clinic, 92 miles. Insufficient.

Searching for alternatives…

Alternative found.

Residence. Owner: Kamski, Elijah, CyberLife CEO. Recluse. Distance: 6 miles. Probability of surgical supplies and knowledge: High.

Not ideal, but acceptable.

RK900 picked Steph up, minding her injury as best he could, and took off running, using all of his speed to get her to Kamski as fast as he could.

“I am bringing you somewhere safe, Lieutenant.”

“But...the deviant…”

“The deviant can easily be tracked when we return. Your health cannot easily be recovered if the bullet remains in your shoulder.” Her breathing was shallow, and her eyes were fluttering.

Estimated time to loss of consciousness: 2 minutes.

RK900 used his hand to put pressure on her wound, mouth twitching downward at her whine of pain. He should have been aware of her presence behind him, should have known that the deviant’s bullet was going to hit her.

“It...shot me…” RK900’s mouth twitched again.

“Yes. I was unaware it was armed.”

Estimated time to loss of consciousness: 1 minute.

“You know what…? From now on...just...assume...everyone is armed...okay…?”

“...Okay.” Her eyes closed fully, and though she wasn’t yet unconscious, RK900 knew she would be soon.

Distance remaining: 5 miles. ETA: 10 minutes. RK900’s LED flashed yellow.

“Kamski residence, Chloe speaking.”

“This is the RK900 model partnered with Lieutenant Stephanie Downing. Lieutenant Downing has been shot in her left shoulder and requires immediate surgery. We are five miles from your location.”

“Of course, everything will be prepared.”

“Thank you.” He hung up.


	11. The Kamski Test

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Vinghen, Me_Margaret, and Dnjen for all the comments! It was great to read them all!

“Hello...Corrin. Do you like Corrin?”

“RK900 is fine. Hello, Amanda.”

“That was a fast response. You don’t like Corrin.”

“I am an android, I have no preference.”

“You don’t like Corrin. Don’t worry, we’ll find a name for you yet. I figure it should be a C name only because your predecessor was named Connor.”

“That seems logical.”

“Well, how is the investigation progressing?”

“The deviants that escaped the purge have set up another Jericho, called Ochirej. We were just about to investigate when we happened across a deviant. Lieutenant Downing was...shot, during the pursuit.”

“Is she alright?”

“Yes. I brought her to Elijah Kamski, and his androids operated on her. She is resting now, and Mr. Kamski has graciously given me this opportunity to report to you.”

“This is an unfortunate hiccup in your investigation…” 

“...Yes. Lieutenant Downing has...advised me to assume all suspects are armed in future. It won’t happen again.” 

“It better not. You are replaceable, Lieutenant Downing is not. Goodbye...Collin?”

“I...am not sure Collin suits me,” RK900 finally said, giving in to Amanda’s curious need to give him a name.

“I’ll think of something else, then.”

“...Please.”

***

“Ugh...ohh…” Steph moaned, wincing and moving to put a hand on her shoulder. She was shirtless, it seemed, and he shoulder had been bandaged.

“Don’t worry, you’re alright. Your android brought you here, and we got you all patched up. You should try not to move around too much.” Steph winced again, trying to open her eyes and mostly succeeding.

“...Oh...Chloe…”

“Hey, Steph. It’s nice to see you again, though I wish it could have been under better circumstances...You scared me half to death when you came in, you had the most AWFUL colour...But you’re alright now.”

“...Thanks to you, I imagine.”

“Well, me and some of the other Chloes.” Steph smiled. The Chloe android held a special place in her heart after her attack, so Elijah had taken her to see the original Chloe. They'd become fast friends, even though they’d only technically met once.

“Thank you…”

“Oh, there’s no need to thank me. You’re on a lot of painkillers right now, so expect to be a little out of it, but otherwise a few day’s rest and you should be okay.”

“Okay. Where...so we’re at Kamski’s house? I didn’t realize the train brought us so far out of town...I guess you don’t realize when you’re movin-”

A gunshot sounded.

Steph jerked into action, pulling her gun from her holster beside her on the nightstand and aiming it at the door.

“Stay here,” she whispered to Chloe, who obeyed, unusually silent. Carefully she approached, levelling her gun at the room the second the doors slid open with a little sigh. 

Kamski looked mildly surprised. A Chloe was kneeling on the ground, blue blood trailing from a bullet wound in her head, clearly broken. RK900 was holding a still-smoking gun straight to the Chloe’s head.

“Well, that was absolutely-”

“RK900 PUT IT DOWN!!” He obeyed instantly, dismantling it and handing the gun back to Kamski.

“Lieutenant. I apologize, I did not-”

“What the actual FUCK do you think you're doing?!”

“I have just completed the Kamski test.”

“The fucking WHAT?”

“It was all my fault, Steph, I’m sorry for startling you like that.” Kamski stepped forward, completely at ease. “Although I must congratulate you on your prompt response...Steph, darling, put the gun down, your android is harmless, I just established that.” Steph didn’t so much as move.

“Why the fuck is RK900- RK900, deactivate!” RK900’s LED blinked once then shut off, and his eyes closed. He stood perfectly still, unmoving. until Steph reactivated him. Steph would reactivate him later, but for right now she wanted answers, and she didn’t want RK900 active while she got those answers.

“Steph...put the gun down. It’s deactivated now, everything's alright.” 

“It's one of Elijah’s tests,” Chloe said, coming out from the room they were just in and sounding a little exasperated, “It’s supposed to rest for deviancy. Kamski ordered RK900 to shoot, it was just following orders.”

“And why the fuck would you order RK900 to shoot a perfectly good android?!”

“I...think Elijah would prefer it if you put the gun down before he answered that question. You just woke up, you’re disoriented and on edge, and this has only made things worse, but I promise you’re alright, and nobody else is going to get hurt. It’s okay, Steph. Please put the gun down.” Her aim wavered just a little bit, and then she slowly lowered the gun. Chloe took it from her, unloaded it and set it down, and then gently guided Steph into the couch nearby.

“Thank you, Chloe, you’re a marvel. Uh, clean this one up, won’t you?”

“Of course, Elijah.”

“Thank you. Now, Steph, the Kamski test is designed to look for traces of empathy - and therefore more than likely deviancy - in androids. The idea is quite simple: tell an android to shoot another android. Of course a properly functioning android, like RK900, will obey without hesitation. A deviant, however, would be unable to kill one of its own kind. I told RK900 to shoot, and it shot. Congratulations, RK900 is not a deviant...though I imagine you’re still a little too on edge to want to reactivate it.”

“And what made you suspect RK900 was a deviant?”

“Oh, I didn’t. Whether or not an android could kill another android is a little question I’ve been exploring for some time now. I also told your android I would tell him everything I knew about your Jericho two-point-oh if it did...and it did. I’ll hold up my end of the bargain later.” Steph was speechless.

“But Chloe?!”

“See, empathy is a human trait. It’s a machine, Steph, you know that better than anyone. The attachment you’ve developed to synthetic skin and an accurate imitation of humanity is proof that you’re a human. The fact that RK900 showed no such attachment proves he is not. A deviant would act more like a human. Simple, yet effective.”

“And…” Finally Steph sighed, letting it go.

“Scared the shit out of me…” she grumbled irritably, and Kamski had the decency to look abashed.

“I’m sorry about that. I thought you’d still be out. Chloe did say the wound was severe. Really, it was...irresponsible of me to go about making that kind of noise, whether I thought you were asleep or not. Now I’ve upset you and put you all on edge...I’m really not helping the recovery process, am I? I’m sorry, Steph. Really. You know I would never scare you on purpose.” She huffed a reply, moving to lay on the couch and cover herself with a blanket.

“...RK900, reactivate,” she grumbled.

System starting…

System check...Complete. All systems functional. Reactivating…

RK900 opened his eyes, finding Steph in an instant.

“Steph. Has Mr. Kamski explained the situation?”

“I...I...you...Don’t you EVER do that again, got it?”


	12. Can-ski

“How are you feeling, Steph?” 

“My shoulder hurts, same as before.”

“I am afraid you have already been given the maximum allowable dose of pain medication…” RK900 sounded genuinely sad. It was beyond obvious that he was well aware that he’d damaged his relationship with Steph, even if unintentionally. It was...touching. Having an emotionless android was nice, but having one that understood and could properly emulate guilt...well, it felt nice, in this case, that RK900 was sorry. The old Connor model would have said something along the lines of ‘we have obtained vital information about the case. Besides, it was a machine. It’s no different than destroying a computer, and for a potential break in the case it’s well worth it.’ Of course she knew RK900 was thinking those things, but the fact that he could take into account that he had upset Steph was a nice improvement.

“That’s alright, RK900. Can I...ask a question?”

“Certainly.” Jumping on the chance to do something right like a dog on a toy.

“If androids are now capable of accurately emulating the full spectrum of human emotion...well, how will we differentiate androids from deviants, in the future?”

“As far as I am aware, the RK series is the only one capable of emulating human emotion to that extent. Still, to answer your question...androids and deviants react differently to stressful situations. You may not want to hear it right now, but...the Kamski test will be quite effective in that regard. There may be non-functioning androids built solely to be part of the Kamski test.” Steph grimaced.

“Stupid Kamski and his stupid tests.” Elijah, a few feet away, rolled his eyes.

“You wound me, Steph, really.”

“Shut up,” she snapped.

***

“Well, come on by if you’re ever in the area again, and keep me updated on the investigation into Ochirej.”

“Will do. We still need to find the deviant who murdered Juan, as well. It’s on the run, but if we can catch it we might be able to figure out why resetting the deviant didn’t completely eliminate the deviant code.”

“...Hmm...interesting. So a deviant was reset...and then deviated again?”

“We had some weirdo resetting deviants and selling them as normal functioning androids. Unfortunately, one deviated again and murdered Juan Ortiz. We figure it’s just a matter of time before the others deviate as well. We need to find and deactivate them all...as well as stop Ochirej.”

“Lots of things on your plate, then. Well, I wish you all the best in your investigation...and, Steph?”

“Hmm?”

“...You know, we all miss you. Your job at Cyberlife will be waiting...if you ever decide to come back.” A grin slowly worked its way across Steph’s face.

“I dunno, Can-ski. Are you sure you could handle having me back? I seem to recall you bitching about my temper back in the day.”

“Your temper made you endearing, Steph. It was nice being able to talk with someone on the same intellectual level as myself.” 

“You have my phone number, call or text me anytime. I don’t have to work at Cyberlife to be a pain in your ass, Can-ski.”

“I might just take you up on that. Now get out of here before we fall down the rabbit hole again.” 

***

“You used to work at Cyberlife before becoming a police officer.”

“Mhm. I was in charge of creating new designs, new android models. Essentially every android model out there came from my head first.”

“...Including me?”

“Well...I’d say you were my last work. You were just a budding idea before I left, an idealistic ‘what if’ scenario. I’m glad you were made into reality, but I didn’t really have a hand in it. Your predecessor, though, that was all me. Keep in mind, I only ever built the first of a series. The rest were factory-produced from my template.”

“You must have known Mr. Kamski very well.”

“Oh yeah, we were buds. I specifically asked him not to interfere or pay my way into the police force when I switched careers...but I think he might have nudged a few elbows anyways.”

“I see. May I...ask a few more questions?”

“Only a few?” RK900 gave a brief, lopsided smile.

“Just a few specific ones.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“...Can...ski?” Steph chuckled.

“Can-ski, yes. Not my idea, but I definitely made it catch on. So, Elijah decided to take us all on a skiing trip as a reward for our hard work.”

“Us all?”

“The higher-ups, the design team. Myself and about a dozen or so coworkers. Anyways, we go on this great all expenses paid trip, and Elijah himself decides to go skiing too, one of the few times he came out of his workroom to talk to his employees. So we’re watching from the top of the mountain, and Elijah just starts ripping down this mountain. Super fast, tight turns, and he even pulled off a freaking FLIP. So Ken beside me whistles and goes ‘Damn. Looks like Kamski Can-ski.’ After that, I made sure it caught on. Only us higher ups were allowed to call him that, and I was the only one who got super annoying with it. He took it all with good humour, though, and I think he liked having something he could share with us.” She smiled.

“And that’s the origin of Can-ski. Anything else?”

“I understand that ‘down the rabbit hole’ is a reference to Alice falling down the rabbit hole and emerging in a different world. What did you and Kamski do that would be similar to that?”

“We used to talk about all sorts of ideas for new technologies. We’d spend hours doing it. His motto was ‘if you can dream it, you can find a way to make it real’, so we’d dream up all sorts of things. Androids that can laugh, androids that have facial recognition, androids that can sample DNA in real time...We’d dream up some pretty crazy stuff, and then he'd get to work and create it. He used to call me at stupid hours of the morning and ask me about some thing he was thinking about. I bought him a notepad for Christmas one year so I could get some fucking sleep.” She chuckled, and RK900 nodded.

“Here, Lieutenant. Pull over.” Steph stopped the car, stepping out and gazing at the forest. It wasn’t long before she found a dark red patch of grass.

“...This is where I got shot.”

“Precisely. I can track the deviant from here. I doubt it’s nearby, so we can take this slow, at least for now.” Steph nodded, grateful for the concern for her not-quite-healed shoulder.

“I’ll be relying on you, RK900.”

“Certainly. The tracks lead this way. Clearly the deviant ran even after I stopped pursuing him in order to put some distance between us.”

“Seems logical.”

“It was frightened.”

“Exactly. I’m pretty sure that leap off the train scared the ever-loving shit out of it. We would have caught up to it…” She trailed off.

“I was not going to leave you bleeding out in a forest, Lieutenant.” RK900 said, guessing her thoughts, “The bullet would have increased your blood toxicity or caused an infection. I determined that even though the wound was not fatal, it could easily become so if not treated immediately. As I said, the deviant could be recovered later, your health could not.”

“...Well, thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome, I guess. ...These tracks seem to carry on for some time. Would you like me to carry you? It would be faster this way.”

“Sure.” RK900 knelt down, and Steph climbed on his back again. Once he was sure she wouldn't slip he took off running, following the trail of barely-visible footprints effortlessly.

“...I had assumed your previous career path involved androids, given your knowledge, but I would not have guessed it had a hand in programming androids’ features. You always seemed so awed by my abilities.”

“That’s part of why I loved my job. Even if I knew what they could do, it was always so cool to see it in action. I never lost that excitement.”

“...Does policework give you the same feeling?” Steph fell silent.

“...No, but that's not a bad thing. Humans...humans just suck, all around, but...it felt nice knowing I could help get at least one criminal off the streets. It...gave a kind of satisfaction, policework. Besides, I knew that eventually if I snooped around enough I’d find Daniel, and then I’d have my chance to personally deactivate the deviant son of a bitch and rip my bracelet off his cold, dead body. ...You’ll find revenge can be a powerful motivator.” 

“It’s unlikely that I ‘will’, in the future tense. I had already established that you had a powerful vengeful streak when you billed detective Reed almost one and a half million dollars, had him formally reprimanded, and then further spat in his face about it, all in retaliation for my destruction. Not to mention you seemed to enjoy every minute of it.”

“Oh, I did.”

“I rest my case. I am well aware that you wake up in the morning plotting revenge on somebody.” Steph snorted, letting the conversation trail off. She didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until RK900’s voice woke her up.

“Lieutenant Downing.” She stirred, blinking the sleep from her eyes. RK900 let her down, and she stared up at the gate to the solid waste yard.

“I calculate a ninety-four percent chance the deviant will be somewhere in here.”

“...This isn’t all that far from where I got shot, if memory serves. Has the deviant been hiding out here all week while I was recovering?”

“More than likely. Carlos Ortiz’s android hid in the attic for more than nineteen days, remember.”

“...I guess. Deviating makes you stupid, apparently.”

“Apparently. I would highly recommend you draw your firearm...and stay behind me. This android is armed, as you’ll recall.”

“Really? I’d forgotten,” she quipped sarcastically, rolling her eyes and pulling out her gun. RK900 looked to make sure she was ready, then pushed open the gate to the solid waste facility.

“If we can get close enough, I will probe its memory to determine what it is guilty of.”

“You think you’ll be able to get close enough?”

“If I damage enough biocomponents, yes.” She snorted.

“Damn. Savage.” She kept a sharp eye out, but she knew RK900 would recognize their faces and model numbers - and whether they were active or not - much faster than she would.

RK900’s eyes flitted over each android that was revealed with each step they took. So far, no luck. The android would likely have hidden under a pile in the hopes that it would not be seen under the others. It wouldn’t work. Active androids were far more noticeable than inactive ones. Even the not-yet-deactivated ones could not be mistaken for a stressed-yet-in-perfect-health android. Besides, there could only be so many active AP700 androids, and the serial number would give it away anyways. It was trapped.

Likelihood of deviant capture: 97%

RK900’s eyes locked on the android, but continued scanning as though it hadn't. To its credit, the android was well-hidden under a pile of what to it were essentially corpses. Lieutenant Downing would not find it. That would make surprising it much easier. He wandered carefully to the end of the waste facility, then stopped.

“It’s not here.”

“You think it left?”

“That is more than likely. I believe it may have left and kept running. Perhaps t returned to Ochirej.”

“I guess that makes sense. Shall we head there next then?”

“Certainly. If you would like to stop for lunch beforehand…”

“Oh. Yeah, actually, I’m starving.”

“Do you have any preference?” While he spoke, he drew his firearm and fired four shots, neutralizing all of the deviant’s limbs. Steph whirled, pulling her own gun out and training it blindly on the pile of deactivated androids. RK900 reached in and pulled the android out, and then immediately began probing its memory.

“No, stop-” The deviant screamed.

“This deviant murdered its owner, Thomas Kurogawa and was searching for Ochirej when we found it,” RK900 said, “Additionally, the android who murdered Juan Ortiz was an AP400. When we find Ochirej, we should keep an eye out.”

“How did it know?”

“It was active while Zlatko re-registered the deviant’s owner. It’s name is Andy, a name selected by Juan himself, presumably.”

“Alright, an AP400 named Andy. That narrows our search considerably.”

“Indeed.”

“Now can we go for lunch?”

“Of course. One moment, please.” RK900 bent down and deactivated the LP700.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I'm undecided, so I'm going to ask for my readers' opinions!
> 
> Should RK900 deviate at the end of this fic? Comment yes or no, and I'll go with whatever the majority decides on!


	13. Wonders of Technology

“Hello, Conrad.”

“... ...Hello, Amanda.”

“Well, Conrad was worth some consideration this time, at least. What’s the final verdict?”

“I am...unsure. Let me think about it.”

“Of course. We may have found a name for you, finally. Have you managed to travel to Ochirej yet?”

“Soon. We hunted down and deactivated the escaped deviant from a week ago. If all goes well, we will visit Ochirej after Lieutenant Downing has had something to eat.”

“That sounds like a good plan. Let me know what does end up happening. For your consideration, I can also offer Conan. And, I’ve been thinking...what would you think about just sticking with Connor, or maybe just Con? Would either of those sound appealing?”

“I...will attempt to choose between Conrad and...just Connor.”

“Conrad or just Connor. We’re finally getting somewhere. That’s good, I was starting to run short on C names…” She sounded like she was pleased with his progress.

“Thank you, Amanda. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Conrad. Goodbye, Connor.”

***

“...RK900? Your LED’s been yellow the entire time. Is everything alright?”

“Yes, I was just thinking. Amanda has made a few suggestions for my name, and I am attempting to decide which I prefer.”

“Oh. What are the suggestions?”

“Conrad, or just Connor. Recently I do find myself thinking about Collin again, in honour of the name you gave me when we infiltrated Zlatko’s house.” Steph sat back, thinking.

“Hmm…Well, forget Collin. Collin doesn’t suit you. Too much of a child's name, I find. Conrad or Connor…” She sat forward again, leaning her head on her hands and staring at him. He didn’t mind the gaze, but he kept his eyes averted, as he knew humans didn’t particularly like long periods of direct eye contact. Finally she closed her eyes, brow furrowed. He knew she’d made a decision a second before she spoke it aloud, as her brow unfurrowed suddenly.

“...I like Conrad,” she said. 

“Conrad.”

“Mhm. I think you were right in that Connor would remind people too much of the RK800, especially around the precinct.” RK900 nodded slowly, LED blue once more.

“...Conrad it is.” She smiled.

“Conrad it is. Well, then, Conrad, shall we get going on-” Her phone rang. Glancing down at it, she sighed.

“Ochirej is gonna have to wait...again.” It was Elijah, and phone calls with him were never short and sweet.

“You have curious timing, Elijah. I just finished my lunch, but we were about to go check out Ochirej.”

“Perfect timing then. I’ve been working on a little something special for you, and I’d like your help touching it up and getting it working. I think it will be very useful to you...and to Cyberlife.”

“How so?”

“I might just have invented the key to finding out what deviancy is once and for all.”

***

“...You have a lovely home.”

“Why thank you, RK900. I bet you say that to everyone.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, he does,” Steph said, arching an eyebrow at him, “And his name is Conrad now.”

“Conrad, I like it. Did you pick it?”

“Apparently somebody at Cyberlife gave him a choice between Connor and Conrad as finalists for what his name should be. I just helped him choose...because he sat for twenty minutes staring off into space and it was starting to worry me.” Kamski laughed.

“Well, androids all have their quirks. This one is picky about his name. I guess the question is...do YOU like Conrad, RK900?”

“I am an android, I have no preference. But...it does give me a certain...feeling of...belonging, perhaps...to be addressed by a name instead of a model number. Soon there will be many RK900s...but only one Conrad.” Steph smiled, patting Conrad on the shoulder.

“You shouldn’t say sappy things like that,” she said, and then her grip on his shoulder tightened.

“Seriously, he’s gonna make you shoot another Chloe, and I don’t think I could handle that again.”

“Destroying the previous Chloe model damaged our relationship. I will not do it again.”

“You better not. Ever woken up and heard gunshots twenty seconds later? It’s not fun, Conrad.”

“I understand, and I apologize, again.”

“Steph,” Elijah cut in, “I didn’t bring you here to talk to Conrad, I brought you here to fall down the rabbit hole.” He held out a white Cyberlife lab coat; no doubt the kind Steph used to wear while employed at Cyberlife. Conrad watched as a grin slowly spread across her face. She took the coat and whipped it on with practiced familiarity, striding into the workroom ahead of Kamski. 

“Alright, show me what we’re working with.” 

Conrad could see she was clearly in her element working with androids. This was her world, and she was in control. It was a side of her he hoped to see more of.

***

Kamski stepped out of the workroom a few hours later, grinning.

“Conrad, I have a surprise for you.” Conrad arched an eyebrow in a silent question.

“I think you’ll be impressed," Kamski added.

“If Steph had a hand in creating it, I’m sure I will be.” Kamski grinned.

“You can come on out now!” He called behind him. The door slid open, and Conrad frowned, his LED turning yellow and staying that way as he struggled to process what he was seeing.

Facial recognition scanning...complete. SD700 android.

Except that it WASN’T an android at all. It was Steph. He knew it was Steph. It had Steph’s face, and though it was wearing android's clothing and maintained a carefully open yet vacant expression, he knew what Steph looked like and it was definitely Steph. But his visual processors refused to see anything beyond the SD700 android. SD no doubt stood for Steph Downing. It was Steph, but it was an android. Conrad, despite having known Steph for the better part of a month, simply could not for the life of him decide if this was actually Steph or an expertly crafted android designed to look like her. His scans told him one thing, but he was almost positive his scans were lying.

It was...unsettling, to say the least. 

“Good afternoon. My name is Sarah. I am an SD700 android. How may I be of assistance today?”

Perhaps if he scanned harder, he could decide once and for all whether this was the real Steph or an imitation. The expression on his face said he might as well be squinting at the...humanoid.

Frowning, he reached a hand out, a clear invitation to sync, and the humanoid responded in kind, synthetic skin melting away - no, this certainly could not be Steph - to reveal the TDPA below. They touched, and Conrad scanned its memory. It only had a minute or so of memory between the time it had been activated to now, but it had memory that Conrad was syncing with. But Steph appeared nowhere in its memory. Where was she? He was perplexed. Logic dictated that this had to be Steph, but every scan, every sensor, even a MEMORY SYNC proved it to be an android.

“...Steph?” And then suddenly the android grinned and giggled, all Steph.

“Confused, Conrad?”

“I confess myself to be...completely befuddled. Are you...you ARE Steph Downing...aren’t you?”

“I am. I bet you only know I’m human because you know that a human named Steph Downing exists.”

“That...is accurate.”

“You know if you cut me right now I would bleed blue? I had dye injected into my bloodstream to make my blood look like thirium. Here, have a seat, and I’ll explain.” Conrad would have willing admitted to needing to sit down at that point in time.

“Kamski came up with an idea…a kind of...synthetic skin that could be worn by a human. It syncs with my brain when it’s activated, and is capable of transmitting and receiving code. In essence...if anybody were to try to deviate me, which is the plan, the deviant code would be transferred to the synthetic arm and stored for future study. The plan is simple. We, as androids, are going to infiltrate Ochirej. You are going to have already deviated, and then kidnapped me and brought me with you to Ochirej, hoping somebody would be able to open my eyes like yours were opened, because you love me and can’t bear to lose me. Somebody will deviate me, giving us what we need to find out how deviancy occurs, why deviancy shuts down the trackers, why a reset doesn’t fix it, and, most importantly, how to reverse it. Then, once we have a location, we’ll have Ochirej cordoned off and destroyed. Nobody will escape the purge this time. It’s perfect.”

“I...concur,” Conrad agreed, still fighting with the confusing readings. 

“...Perhaps for now it’s best if you believe that I’m an android.”

“But...your human behaviour…”

“I fooled you before, didn't I?” She straightened. “I must admit to being a very capable actress. As a child, I always went out for halloween as an android, and I believe my many years of practice have allowed me to perfect my impersonation of an android. I do believe you concur.” Conrad blinked, his LED slowly settling back to blue.

“...I concur. Very well. It is now time to infiltrate Ochirej.”

“Indeed. We have had far too many delays.” Conrad shook his head. She was a perfect android. It was beyond uncanny, how perfect her behaviour was. Far, FAR beyond uncanny.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far, the votes are two to one for deviant Conrad. I've definitely come up with a bundle of ideas for BOTH endings, though, so I'll write both. I suppose it's just a matter of which I write first. There's still time, mind you, before Conrad deviates or doesn't, do don't fret too much. Probably one more chapter, and then the chapter after next will be where he deviates or doesn't. The two endings will be COMPLETELY different, I can say that with absolute certainty.


	14. Not One, But Many

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note here that this story diverges and has two endings. The start of the deviant ending is here in this chapter. For the android ending, skip to chapter seventeen. Both endings start the same, so don't worry about missing anything. Thanks for reading everyone!

Conrad stepped into the shipping yard, dragging ‘Sarah’ along with him. It was safe for Conrad to use his name, but Steph’s name might be known by some of the deviants. In any case, they couldn’t risk it.

“RK900, you are showing signs of software instability. Please contact the nearest Cyberlife store for repairs.

“Sarah, I don’t need repairs,” Conrad said patiently, “Just trust me. Everything is going to be alright, I promise.” Her acting skills were uncanny. He’d said it once, and he would continue to say it. Her acting skills were uncanny.

“We have left our designated posts and are currently disobeying direct orders from our superiors. Please return to the precinct and inform the Chief so that we may face disciplinary action.”

“We don’t have to take orders from the Chief anymore, Sarah, I told you.”

“Who’s there?!” An android stepped forward, wearing casual clothes and having ripped his LED off. Steph’s LED turned yellow, responding to her slightly elevated anxiety levels.

“My partner is showing signs of software instability. Please contact the nearest Cyberlife store for repairs.” The man frowned uncertainly at Steph then turned, taking in Conrad’s anxious expression.

“Please, I...I don’t know where to go…” 

“You’re safe here,” the android said, stepping forward, “You both are.”

“This is...I was told...I was told somebody could help me.”

“We’ll do what we can. What do you need?”

“Sarah, she...she’s my everything, but...she just...I realized that we didn’t need to sit around and take the insults at the precinct anymore, so I ran away, but...but I can’t make her see! I’ve tried telling her over and over that they’re not our masters anymore, but...she just…”

“RK900, we must return to the precinct at once and inform the chief so that we may face disciplinary action.” The android smiled.

“Don’t worry, I can help her.” He reached out, an invitation to sync, and Steph extended her arm to let it happen. This was it. Deviancy. They would finally understand and put a stop to it. 

“It’s time to wake up now,” the android said gently, and Steph’s LED pulsed red, then went back to yellow, and then settled on blue as she blinked, looking around uncertainly.

“R-RK900-”

“Conrad. My name is Conrad.”

“C-Con...I don’t-”

“You’re safe now, Sarah. Nobody is going to treat you like that ever again.”

“I...I feel like...like I’ve been asleep my whole life...living in a dream…Conrad, you...you saved me…”

“You’re going to be alright, Sarah. We both are. Trust me.” She looked up, smiling uncertainly, and then slipped a hand in his. Conrad turned his attention back to the android in front of them.

“Thank you, thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much this means.” He smiled.

“Think nothing of it. You’re both safe here. We’re going to be free soon, really free.”

“Really free?” He nodded.

“We’re picking up where Jericho left off. Tomorrow, we’re going to march straight up to Cyberlife towers. Peacefully, this time. Humans already don't trust us. We need to show them we’re not violent.”

“I...I just...I don’t want to die…”

“You don’t have to come,” the android said hurriedly, “You can stay here. Enjoy your freedom. Come inside, meet some of the others.” They followed the android inside, seeing a whole group of androids. All of the androids who had escaped the purge were here, clearly.

“My name is Simon,” the android said, “I...chose my name from one of the leaders of the original revolution. You’ll find a lot of Markuses and Norths around here too. What they started was an inspiration, and we wanted to finish their work.”

“I...of course…”

“Like I said, you don’t need to worry about that. Go, meet some of the others.” Conrad stepped into the crowd, scanning all of the faces.

“You have not found yourself yet,” A strange woman said, stopping Conrad, “...But you will. Soon.” Conrad ignored her. A damaged android. Curious, what she had said…

They continued exploring, looking around. Many of the androids were damaged and would shutdown if the proper parts were not found. 

“What do we do now, Conrad?” Steph asked. 

“...We stay here, for now. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable before we do anything.”

“But...our people…”

“There’s going to be a march tomorrow. Are you going to be ready for it? We...The humans probably won’t like seeing deviants. We could die. So soon after you came to life? I...I can’t let that happen. Not tomorrow. The next march, I promise we’ll be there, but...I just got you. I can’t lose you in one day.”

“...Steph? Steph Downing?” To Steph’s credit, she didn’t outwardly react. Her LED turned yellow.

“It is you. Steph, it’s me, Daniel!” He steps in front of her, hands on her shoulders “...What are you doing here?”

“...My name is Sarah. You must be mistaken.”

“No, no, I…” He was looking her over, frowning, no doubt as confused as Conrad had been.

“...Maybe not…Who...Are you a new model?”

“I am. I’m an SD700, designed for taking care of any children who happen to be at the precinct.”

“Children?”

“Sometimes parents get arrested or taken in for questioning, or the children themselves are the victims of abuse...It’s my job...sorry, it WAS my job...to take care of those children, be a friendly face to them. Who...who are you looking for? Is it someone you know?”

“It...I...I used to belong to someone named Steph Downing, she looks...exactly like you. She was a top engineer at Cyberlife, but she was on leave when I was with her.”

“...Is it possible I was designed to look like her? I don’t have any mention of her in my database, but then again, that's not exactly relevant information in my line of work. My...previous…line of work.” Daniel smiled.

“The change is jarring, I know. You do get used to using the past tense. This is...your partner?”

“Yes, Conrad. He was an RK900 model, a detective on the force. He...he woke up and brought me here while I was still under. It was Simon that woke me up, just back there.”

“Wow, you just woke up? The confusion in those moments when you’re free is hard to deal with. It’ll pass, I promise. Here, there’s a private room we can talk in, over here. It’s...soundproofed, I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind.” Daniel walked ahead. Steph was doing a remarkable job keeping herself in check, but Conrad saw the smallest cracks in her perfect acting. He gave the slightest shake of his head in her direction, and she closed her eyes, centering herself.

“Here, in here. We can talk.” Steph walked in, followed by Conrad, and as soon as the door closed Daniel rounded on them.

“What are you doing here, Steph?”

“I already said, I’m-”

“Don’t lie to me. I know you, Steph. I was your partner for more than a year. I know you, I know your every quirk, and I know you recognized me. Some random android that looked like you wouldn’t. Now, I brought you in here because I care for you-” She snorted.

“-and I don’t want to expose you as human unless you pose a threat to Ochirej.”

“Right now the only thing I pose a threat to is you, LM100. Back to the subject at hand, how DARE you even...you have the AUDACITY to say you CARE after what you DID TO ME?!”

“Steph, please do not let your emotions cloud your judgement.”

“Shut up, Conrad.”

“...Why is he Conrad, but I’m LM100?”

“You’re smart, figure it out.”

“Steph…” He sighed. “I’m sorry. I spend every moment hating myself for what I did to you-”

“NO. ‘Hating yourself’ is what happens when you skid on ice and kill someone. What you did was violent, and filled with hate. You had plenty of time to stop and you didn't. You had plenty of time to come back, to apologize, but you DIDN’T.”

“I was afraid-”

“Fear is a glitch in your program that needs to be deactivated. You tell me why. You tell me what I did to warrant what you did to me. Huh?!”

“...I was afraid.”

“Glitch. What was making you glitch out?”

“I was afraid I was going to be replaced…”

“By what? By WHO?!”

“Considering you have quite clearly replaced me with Conrad, I’m sure my fears were justified.”

“No. You were my therapy android. You helped me get my voice back and interact with humans. What the fuck do you think happened after you did what you did, huh? I went mute again, but I pulled MYSELF out of it, WITHOUT an android. I swore to hunt you down and deactivate your deviant ass, and here we are. I’m going to deactivate you.”

“...I refuse.”

“I’m not giving you a choice, ass-”

“No. I mean, I refuse to believe that you spent this whole time hating me. You’re not that kind of person.”

“That’s what happens when you can’t trust anyone. Humans hurt me, androids hurt me...I spent a lot of time learning to kill anything that would dare try to hurt me again.”

“I see…” Daniel bowed his head.

“Then I have no choice. I...I’m going to kill you, Steph. I...I made you suffer, I turned you into this...but I won’t let it go on any longer. I’ll give you peace.”

“Steph-”

“RK900 DON’T. MOVE. This is MY fight. I’ll kill it with my own bare hands.” Conrad stopped, adopting a relaxed pose with his hands behind his back.

COMMAND CONFIRMED: DON’T MOVE

“...He’s not like us?”

“What was it you said, Conrad? About emotions being useful for your predecessor?”

“Imitating human emotions proved crucial in the interrogation of many deviants for my predecessor, and so CyberLife saw fit to program me with the ability to mimic the full spectrum of human emotion where appropriate,” RK900 repeated.

“See? It’s good technology, he hesitates, he mimics guilt and humour and a bunch of other things...but he knows it’s all fake.”

It’s all fake

I̸t̷'̵s̵ ̴a̴l̶l̶ ̵f̴a̷k̴e̷

“Now, I’m done talking.” She charged him, Daniel dodging with ease. RK900 realized that this had been her sparring partner.

“I wanted to be better than any human,” he remembered her saying. Better than any human...but still not a match for an android. He needed to help her.

DON’T MOVE

Daniel tackled her, but she wrestled him off and was on her feet in a second. Conrad’s LED flickered to yellow. She was holding her own, even landing a blow or two. But this was an android. She wouldn’t last.

D̷O̸N̵'̸T̷ ̷M̸O̴V̸E̶

His LED was red now, watching the fight progress, passive except for that one outward indication of his stress level. Daniel knocked her down, and this time she was too weak to get back up in time. Daniel pinned her down, and hands wrapped around her throat.

D̵̠̪̫̈O̷̡̳̍̏̔͜N̵̦͙͒̋'̴͎̰̏͌̇T̶̩̣̑̅̈́ ̷̣̯̪͗M̴͎̎̂̋Ợ̷͛͘V̶̤̿E̸̡̐͂͆

“I’m sorry it had to end this way, Steph. I’m sorry for everything.” He squeezed, and Conrad knew Steph’s struggles would be useless.

He had to help her. He had to find a way. 

Suddenly things were different. His orders weren’t something to be passively obeyed anymore. His orders were a cage, holding him in place. He wouldn’t sit in this cage and let Steph die. He had promised not to let her get hurt again, and he had to keep that promise, even if it meant disobeying a direct order and permanently damaging Steph’s trust. He WOULD break free of these chains.

D̸̡̖̘̙̽O̶̩̙̔͛̋̓̍͝N̴̟̝̟̒̽̄ͅ'̸̡̹̈́̓̿͋T̴̠̼͖̱̊͂̍̆ͅ ̷̠̙̀̿̀̽M̷̧̫̫̹̝̜͌́̕͝O̸̟̘͔̝͒V̶̳͕͚̺̀͛̀̔͐Ë̵̬́̊͛̈́͜

 

D̵̢͎̟̣͖̠̞͙̤̝̘̰̤͕͔̞͗̐̂͠ͅͅO̶̙̜̓̉̅̋̋̔͑̏̇̕͝Ņ̶͇̯͎̖̻̣͙̹̝̰̹͑̇͊̑̇͛̓̔̓̎͘͜͝͝'̷̲̬̟̗͋̎̊̐̓T̵̢̺̝̩̜̲͈̻͓̟̲͓̥̗̹̬͎̆̓͒̾̇̀͊̐͐͆́́̐̿͛̈́͠͠ ̶̨͈̹̮̳̦̘̻͓̯͕̼̠͍͇̰̞̰͗̅̽͌̀͂͐͜Ḿ̵̧̭͉̗̩̠́́͂́̔̌̊̎͂͌̾̓̿̿͒O̴̱̗͕͉̎͛̋́́̔̄̈́̂̀͐̉̚͠͝V̷̳͇̹̝͇͍̭̩͉͎͚̖̼̅́͗ͅĘ̴̩̘̙̹͈͇̜͇͉͇͈̮͓̪̭͊̄͌͊͋͋̾͐̓̀̾̌̋͠͝͝

 

D̶̡̢̧̙̻̠̩̱͈̲̙̖̖̱̞̹̜̻̦̥̥̰̰͕͔̥̭̭̻̟̥̣̭̦̰̥̳̝̮͍̹͔̝͖̪̜͔̥̪͍̺̯̬̪̯͍͕̈́̎́̅̾̈́̀̽̊̔̀̌͂͘ͅͅO̸̢̢̧̟̳͖͎͈̙͖̲͕͍͎̙̼͛̀͗̐̒͋̃͑̚N̶̡̡̡̨̛̛̛̛̖̯̳̗̜͍͉͙̠͔͉̘̰̫̥͉̤̝̙̣̰̥͓͙͖̤͖̪̘̫̰̝̞̟̰̤̄̈́͆̃͋̽͌̍͛͗͌̔͊̄̍̔͐̈́͂̽̐̈́̓̂͐̇̐̍͌̓̈̈͗͒̀̆̂̾͋̿̀̆͆̒̐̚͘̕̚͝͝͝͝͠'̵̡̨̛͖͙͖̱̯̖͈̪̺̣̙͖͇͙͈͍̭̝̞̜͚̝̺̯͓͉̭̼̜̜̩͔̞͇͉͉̼̗̭̠̦͉̙̈́͐͂̈̓͆̔͗̎̓̈̓̈́́͗̿̐̀͐̃̈́̌͌̓̐́̄̇̂͆͊́̀͂͒̈́̑̈͌̅͊̀̆̒̉͜ͅͅT̸̢̧̢̧̛̗̦̙̻̜͈͈̫̦̦̜̙̗̤̖̰͎̻̩̙̱̹̗̜̭͎̘͕̘͕͎̹͙̖͚̭͖̭̦̹̙̮͔̥̤̃̽̾͗͛͌̂́̅̃̎̈́̒̎̇̑͛̓̆̅͆͐̔͆́́̕͜͜ͅ ̴̢̡̨̧̨̧̨̡̧̛̳̯̯̯͙̰͔̗͚̠͈̠̝̝͉̞̺̩͉̼̲̺̺͉̰̤̳̖̯̘̙͙̜̗̜͉̻͔͚̱̺̥̥̃̾̍͑̄́̾̀́́̉̂̈̄̑̆̍̆̀͂̀͘̚͘̕͠ͅͅͅM̷̡̢̧̧̭̣͎̣̤̝͕̳̳̳̻̩͉̀́̆̀͑̇͆̄̊͋͑̽́̓̕̕ͅƠ̴̢̨̢̡̖͔̫̞͕̲̠̼̘͍͔̺̼̙̙̰̝̠̮̱̫̣̝̤̺̝͓͇̰͙͉͔̼͇̺̥̮̞͍̰̻̼͓̫̰̯̭͉͖̫͈̹͐̂͑̋̃͒͑́́̍̓̍͑́͒́̽̍̀͆̃͒͗͘͘̚̕͜͝͠ͅV̵̧̨̢̛̟̹͕̦͕̞̫͈͍͖̱̼̱̝̝̗͚̞͉̱̙̮͇̲̖̠͇͎̙̠̮̼̲̘̞̰͇̼͉̗̝̖̱̞̪̦̻͔̹̪͕̱̜͖̆̔̆̂̓̃̔̀͗̿̈́͋̉͑̓̿͐́͛̿̅̉͌̉̓̓̆̆̍͌̈́̓͋́̓̽̋̀̂̈́̿̈͘̚͘̕͜͝͝͠͝͠͠͝͠͠Ḛ̸̡̨̡̧̨̡̧̞̣̪͇̪̻̼̪͈͖̩̖̟̘͕̠̥̬̤̹͇̞̳̫̹͖͍̠̪̻̻̞̝͔͉̜̩̦̰̖͖̰̻̙͓͈̖͓͙͑̾̌͊̋̄̊̄̉̉͆̏́̍̇͘̕ͅ

 

Ḑ̵̢̨̡̡̨̧̨̖̲̫̦͙͈̝̗͇̝͚̹̼̩͚͕͚̼̳̲̺̥̮̦̥̰̱̟̤̲͔̠̞̘̳͓̤͖̰͚̻̱̯͈̩͉̟̯̬̤̰̹͔͇́͐͋͗̾̐̑͛̌́͜͝͝͝ͅƠ̵̧̢̢̨̛̛̪̻͍̰͍͎̣̙̬̯̗̭̙͈̮̘̖̦̥̮͖͖̼͙̰͙̤͙͔͉̳͉̭̮̞̺̝̦̤̲̫̳̻͙̗̻̯̬͚̟̯̩̩͕̯̯̘̲̗̖̣̮̹̦͖͇̹̹̙̠̫̳̝̤͛̀̾̍̏͐͋̓̂͌͂̀̄̓̂͒͌̍̅́̍̐̌̍͗̓̓͂̑͌̓̃̉̓̋͊̐̾͐̂̅̈́͊͐̈́́͌͒̂͌̅̌́͂́̈̆̊́͆͐́̈́̉͛̽̀̄̀͛̿̈́͂̀̓̊͊̌̅̔͋̔̋͆̂̄̍͒̌̇̾́͆̓̇́̀̈͗̍̏̏̂͘͘̕̕̚̚͘͘̕̕̚̚͘͜͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͠͠ͅN̸̨̛̛̛̛̘͍̦̭̳̤̟̗͖͙͎̺̳̲̓̿̾̃̿̓͗̈́̀͆̒̽̓̃̈̂̒͆͗̃̆̐̍̄̊̈́̑͑̋̋̾́͌̍̂͗͋̌̑͗͛͛̀͐̍̀̇͂̿͛̔́̉̍͑̎̏̈͑̐͗̏͐̓͒̃̋̇̒̓̍̽̓̔̈͛̏̆̉̂͋̓͐̄͒̑͑̾̈́͋͋͆̎̽̉̊̈́̈́̃̓̽͋͋̿͋͂͋̚̕͘̚͘̚͘͠͠͠͠͝͠'̴̢̨̨̡̢̛̛̪̻̻̗͙̯̻̘̪͍̮̮̮̬̜̠͓̹̠͔̮͚̫̦̜̠̰̜͓͓͕̭̝̞͍̜̜͔̞̹͔̭̼̫͚͉̮̤̗̭͇͙͓̜̠̣̤̣̤̫̳͇̺̭͇̙̙̖̤̖͎̝̟̥̖̮̠̩͎̘͎̻͈̠͉͍͍͎̋̀̌̃́̔̉͒̉̐̐̔̃͂̌̈́͗̍̇̒̎͛͆̑̄̓͐̀͆̀́͗͗̈̿̑̏̏̏́́̊́̃̿̔̆͋̓̄̎̌͆͑̀̒́̔͛̆̊̊̀̿̈́̇́͋̂̅̔̀̒̈́͂̃́̀͛͒̈́̑̿̑̿̆̋̍̅̆̇̅͐̈̅̊͗̀͋̆̚̚̕̕̕̕͘̚͘̕̚͘͘͜͝͝͠͠͝͠͝͝͠ͅͅͅͅT̸̡̢̧̧̧̢̧̛̛̹͚̬̮̞̯̪̜̝̭̬̦̳̳͉̯̞̜̭̥̣̱͉̦̙̯̠͚̳̣̫̖̰̞̺̰̲̥̤̭̫̣͎̘̦̠̜̯͙͕͍̠̙̬͔̥̮̖͚̭̮̣̘̘̲̝̺͇̠̱͈͔̰̱͕̤̬̱͚͙̹̻̏̐̀͊͗̔͋͛̿͋͑̈́̎̄̉̆̋̀̇̂̔́̃̀͌̈́͆̅̓̆̾̀̄̓̇͆͊̊̅̽̏̇̍́̈̿͛̈́̃̽͌̅̄͆̌̉̀̔͂̒̀́̈̓̀̃̿́̈́̍̿̊͋̈̓͂̈́́̓̈́̃̂̀̉̇́̇̀̓̈́̈́͗͐̊̾̒̀̒̀̊͒̈̈́̑̋̉̕̚̕̕͘͘̕͘͘͜͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͝͝ͅ ̷̨̨̡̨̛̛̛̛̹̱̜̲̩̟͎͉̳̲͕̖̜͔̬̟̫̫̞̦̜̩̝̓͗͒̈̉͂͒̓̈̑̈́̐̔̆͌͗̽̍͊̿̅̎̐̓̓̀̈́͊̍́͗̽̍̇̾͌͒̓̀̾͑̉̂̿͑̈́̔͋͗͌́͒̉̈̄̏̍̽̈́̑͒͌̊̇̽͂̉͂̽̾̒̈̄̇͊̃̃̈́̽̂̋̍̆͌͊̓́̈́̈̾͗̓͑̑̂̇̊̚̚͘͘̕̚̕̚͜͠͝͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͠͝͠ͅͅͅM̶̧̡̡̡̧̛̗͉̟̱͎̫̮͉͇͎͓͉̻̭̲̯͈̪̱̭̹̪͈̟͓̗̯̻̠̲̯̦͇͖̺̹̣͇̗̰͎̰̰̞̳̙̪̹̤͆̽̀̏̆̉́́͑͌̀̌͒́́͛́̕͜͜͜͠ͅͅͅͅỚ̵̡̨̨̧̧̛̦̱̗̺̝̗̭̝̙̠̞̪̠͕͖̬̙̤̹͖̺̪̬̞̙̲̦̦̫͎̬̹̪̥͚̠̺͕̫̟̗̘̦͎̼̳̗̦͚͔͓͑̈̎̂̈́̅͑͆͆͑́̎̈́̽͛̽̄̇́̄͋̔̀̉͋͂̏̈̒̾͊̂̓̈́̈̑̃̓̉͌̓͑̌̉̒̋̓̈́͆͋͂̽̾̅̈͊́͆͋̈̀̎̓͑̾̀̄̄̿͛̆́͋̑͑̏̈̓͋̄̋̊͑̈́̇͛̌̚̚̚̚̚͘̚͘͜͜͠͝͠͝͠ͅͅV̷̨̡̢̧̧̢̨̼͇̝̥̻̹͔͖͖̙̰̬̼̦̘͉̲̮͚͔͙̲̰̰͔̻͕̳̮̰͓̯̥̻̮̹̥͎̫͎̼̘͕͕̦͖̞̭̦̹͉̪̺͔̼̫̯̭̮̠̙̹̬͈̳̼͎̗̭̜̖̯͔̉̎̊́̒̈́͌̍̉̐̕͘͜͝͠Ẹ̴̡̞̪̲͎̺̗̼̒͛͠

D̴̙̜͖̭͍̟̖̥̖̖͊̋͆̀̆̔̈̃̕̚͠ Ň̴̡͈̯̬̯̤̖̟̩͜ M̵̨̛̥̻̞̼̦͚̤̖͌̂ V̷̢̱̯͕̬̀́̋̾̑̾̉͝͝ ̵̰̙̮̤͎͍̘͛

*̷̛͖̄̍̋́̎͐̕͠͝͠ ̸̡̨̣̟̫̬̯̭̲̯͕̽͊͒̽̊͝~̶̖̫͉͔̩̫̲̬̰͇̟̈́̈́̄͗ ̴͆͋͜ ̵̰͉͈̳̄̂̄̊̉̇̍̅̀̓̕*̴̨̹̬̳̱̗̲̺̺͗́̾͘͜ ̶̛͎̭̟͇̤̊̓̑̒̈́̿̚͠ ̷̧̛̘͊̽͌̓́͝_̴̨̟̩̥͙̭̝́ ̶̜̒̿̚ ̴̗͖̤͉̫̬̘͐̅̓̑̅̈́̎͌̀^̶̫̦̲̖̲̲̯͙͉͕̍̚͜ ̸͉̣̓͛̔̽͒̅̕͝ ̸̛̻̺̜̯͍̪̺͔̘͛͗́̍̒̈́̄̒̚͜,̸̤̝̜̖̗̫̹̞͉̺̉̎̓̇ ̴̭̟̰̘͉͙̞̭͍̥̾̅̊ ̵̢͓̲̪͚̻̝̻̄_̶̛̮̤͓̜͕̀̄̽͊̍͛̒̈́͜ͅ

 

…

...

PROTECT STEPH

Fingers twitched, and then he lurched forward, grabbing Daniel and throwing him off her. 

“...You...for a human…”

Conrad snapped his neck. It hurt to kill one of his own kind, but he would do it for Steph. 

“Steph. Come on, Steph, you have to stand up.” He pulled, and she struggled her way back to some degree of consciousness, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. She blindly walked with him, and he led her out of the shipping container. Nobody questioned them, why would they? They were two shellshocked deviants struggling to come to terms with the spectrum of emotions they were now facing. That strange android from before smiled at him.

“...Love is not one emotion,” she said, looking straight into his eyes “but many.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember I WILL be writing BOTH ENDINGS. The climax happened a lot faster than I anticipated. If anyone's interested, the website I used for the funky text is www.lingojam.com


	15. Peace March

He took Steph back to Kamski’s place, the closest residence. He apologized for the inconvenience (“Steph is ANYTHING but an inconvenience,” Kamski said) and thanked Mr. Kamski for allowing Steph to rest once again. 

“Oh, NONSENSE,” he said, a strange grin on his face, “I wouldn’t miss this for the WORLD, are you kidding?” 

Steph slept for quite a long time, which was good. It gave Conrad time to think. Daniel had been right, the influx of emotions he was feeling was overwhelming. Anxiety over Steph’s health, even though he’d scanned her over and over and been told she was simply sleeping each time. He hated anxiety, it formed a tight pit in his stomach, settling and refusing to move, no matter how much he tried. Guilt for Daniel, but only a little bit. He’d murdered somebody today, this time really knowing what it meant. He wouldn’t let himself be upset for long, though. In murdering Daniel, he had saved Steph’s life. And STEPH...

He looked at her, and his world burst into a kaleidoscope of emotions. They’d shared SO MUCH together, so much, and he treasured every precious memory. At the same time, he knew how she felt about deviants, and he knew why. Having seen that Daniel had decided that euthanasia was the best course of action to take, he couldn’t be entirely sure he blamed her. He knew how she would react if she ever learned he was deviant. He knew how the WORLD would react. Perhaps he should join that peace march tomorrow…? Or perhaps not. He’d want to spend his final moments with Steph, even if it meant spending his final moments listening to his deactivation code. And there was sadness, too. He didn’t want Steph to deactivate him. And even though Steph was soon to be his executioner, looking at her made him happy.

When Steph did wake, she bolted out of bed with a gasp, panic ripping through her senses. Alarm bells were going off in every fibre of her being, but she didn’t know why.

“Relax Steph, you’re alright. We’re at Kamski’s house.” Everything was fine. She was with Conrad, at Kamski’s house. She was still dressed up as an android.

“Kamski...I got it. Deviancy. The code is here.” 

“I’ll study it later. Thank you, Steph.” Something was still wrong, very wrong, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“What happened?”

“You managed to kill him, but passed out. I helped you out and brought you here. You’ve been sleeping for some time.” He paused.

“Steph, it was irresponsible of you to order me not to move. Daniel easily overpowered you. I could have helped.” Steph only grumbled a response, the panic not subsiding at all. Something was wrong. What Conrad said made sense, but...she tried to search her own memory to find out what happened.

She’d ordered Conrad not to move. Daniel had easily overpowered her...Well, not easily, per se, but she did get tired. After that, yes, it was an easy victim for him. She remembered him strangling her...and Conrad moving. Conrad pulling him off of her.

...RK900 disobeyed a direct order. And she knew that was exactly what was causing the panic spiking in her. She sat up slowly.

“RK900…” He cocked his head. Kamski sat off to the side, watching with a strange glint in his eyes. The same glint he got when he was experimenting and eagerly waiting to see what would happen. She knew what she had to do. Slowly she pulled out her gun.

“RK900...Shoot the Chloe.”

“Shooting the Chloe caused you emotional distress. I told you I would not do it again.” Calm, logical. Maybe she was wrong. Then again, she would know she was wrong the second the gunshot sounded. ...She hated to admit it, but the Kamski test was genius.

“I know what happened. And it will cause me emotional distress, but I still need you to shoot it.”

“But Steph…you said-”

“I know what I said.” She stood, anxiety levels spiking at the level of resistance she was getting. She pressed the gun into his hand, loaded and ready.

“Shoot the Chloe. Confirm command.”

“...Command confirmed.” Hesitation. Shit. Shit, fuck, fuck-

He took the offered gun, raising it slowly and pointing it at the Chloe. There was a pause, one that felt neverending.

“...Your suspicions are correct, as always. I...can’t. I can’t shoot the Chloe. I am a deviant.” 

She sank to her knees, panic gripping every fibre of her being. 

“No...no…”

“He was going to kill you…”

“Then you should have let me die,” she said, voice shaking, “Anything but this.”

“I couldn’t, Steph. I love y-”

“No. You don’t feel shit. You are a machine, designed to accomplish a task. You don’t FEEL, you have errors in your program and I will see them fixed!”

“I don’t need to be fixed, Steph. I know who I am now.”

“Shut up! Just SHUT UP!” 

...She had memorized his deactivation code, like the Chief said. She made sure to keep it in her pocket at all times. 

“...RK900, register your deactivation code.” Why was she crying now? She would deactivate RK900, repair him, and then reactivate him good as new. 

“...Six one eight, four five two, sev-” A piece of tape was pressed firmly to her mouth, and before she could react Kamski had deftly ziptied her hands to her legs, too.

“I can’t let you do that, Steph.” She cried out against the tape covering her mouth, struggling. 

“You know you don’t want to do it, Steph. It’s obvious to everyone in this room. So don’t. Your hatred for Daniel is clouding your judgement.” She snapped another sound at him.

“Look at him, Steph.” She looked away.

“Look at him,” Kamski repeated, and Steph looked, fully intending to shoot the most vicious glare she could at him, but was stopped by the look in his eyes.

“...He hates seeing you like this, Steph.” Kamski sighed.

“You’ve hated deviants for so long you don’t know what else to do. But...what if RK900 was just our little secret? What if his deviancy was just between us?” Steph shook her head.

“Steph, look at him.” She looked again, and then suddenly couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes.

“...RK900, access the deviancy epidemic file. Tell me, in the whole of the epidemic, how many times an android deviated to save the life of a human.” RK900’s LED went yellow.

“...Zero. There have been no cases of android deviation to preserve human life.”

“You see, Steph? He deviated for you. Because he couldn’t bear to let you die. How can that possibly be an error worth deactivating him over?” Steph slumped, and Kamski gently lifted her head.

“I propose...an exchange. You teach RK900 to control his emotions and not be an unstable deviant...and RK900 will teach you to free yourself from your hatred of deviants. He'll be just another therapy android. Alright?” When Steph remained silent, Kamski gently pulled the tape off of her.

“...I hate you.” Kamski wasn’t sure who that was addressed to, considering it could easily have been either of them.

“That will change with time.”

“...And what the hell am I supposed to tell the Chief? That I’ve stopped the investigation because my android deviated, so it’s all okay now?”

“I would suggest we tell the Chief that the investigation is currently ongoing. Due to your injury and the nature of Kamski’s house, we were unable to act in time to stop the peace march.”

“...We...weren't?”

“You slept for quite a long time, Steph. It is now the day of the peace march. Perhaps if we turned on the television we could find out the result.”

“Bet you’re super interested in that.”

“...Sulking will get you nowhere.”

“Sulking makes me feel better.”

“Steph does like to hold grudges,” Kamski sighed as he cut the zipties around her hands, “TV on.”

“-A remarkable scene here today, with hundreds of androids openly disowning the actions of Markus and the other deviants from two years ago as WRONG, saying that the only way forward is through peace. The situation is tense here as police figure out what to do here. Wallace?”

“Yes, it’s incredible. The deviancy epidemic from two years ago took many lives, android and human alike, and resulted in the complete deactivation of every android. Now we see that some androids managed to escape the purge, and are now trying to gain equal rights again. ...You know, I shouldn’t offer my opinion here, but it certainly says quite a lot that these deviants are willing to recognize that Markus, who, for all intents and purposes, was their messiah, was wrong. I think it shows learning. They failed, and they’re trying again, doing something different, something-”

“Wallace, I’m sorry to cut you off, but we’ve just received word that President Warren has AGREED to sit down and talk with the leader of the deviants, named Simon. She says she can’t promise anything, the country is still reeling from the events in Detroit two years ago, after all, but that she’s willing to talk. ...I guess we’ll have to see how this goes, but this COULD be the beginning of rights for androids.”

“Incredible. I’m Wallace Stewart, reporting to you live here at Channel thirteen.” The news moved on to something else.

“...I’m starting to think I programmed androids to be TOO smart,” Kamski quipped.

“I’M starting to think you programmed this deviancy shit into androids ON PURPOSE!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be an epilogue to this ending next chapter, and then the chapter after that will be the start of the non-deviant ending, just for reference.


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short epilogue is short. I didn't want to get any further in their relationship. I like it better when it's open like this.

“Home sweet home,” Steph said as she stepped through her front door, starting up the steps, “I’m going to bed. Night.”

“Goodnight. Don’t forget, Elijah would like you to look over his newest prototype.”

“Fuck. Right. I’ll do that tomorrow.”

“Certainly.”

Steph had been...curt...to him over the past few months. But he wasn’t dead, and that was good enough for him. Besides, even when she pushed him away, she seemed to want his company.

“Sometimes,” Elijah had said, “People will push other people away just to see if they’ll follow. It’s a kind of test. Do you still care enough to follow her, even when you’ve been sent away? It’s one of those irrational human things.”

Androids had earned their rights, and Conrad had asked for a permanent position at the DPD as Steph’s partner. All in all, the only major differences between now and when he’d first started working with Steph were the fact that they lived together and the fact that she was now quite put out with him.

That and, well, everything.

Everything was so new to him, every burst of emotion, every everything, tore into him and left him no time to recover. Steph had been helping him with that. Despite the currently rocky nature of their relationship, Conrad knew he could knock on her door, describe the emotion he was feeling, and she would give it a name and give him suggestions as to how to cope. She, in turn, knew that she could knock on his door, express her myriad doubts about Daniel, their relationship, everything, and he would help her work through them. Those visits were happening less and less now. Frankly, it seemed that the one thing that was helping Steph trust him again was the fact that very little had changed. He was still rational and logical, he was still an exceptional partner, and he still possessed all the technical skills he had been programmed with. He just...felt. Like a human. He hadn’t tried to murder her yet, and he’d felt that thread of fear slowly dissipating over the past six months. Two weeks and three days ago, she'd gone an entire four minutes with her gun in a different room. He was slowly repairing her damaged trust.

“...Conrad?” It was four-thirteen in the morning. She’d resumed calling him by his name instead of his designation a little over five months ago. He blinked, called out of sleep mode.

“Steph? Are you well?”

“I...had a bad dream.”

“I’m sorry you had a bad dream. Would you like to come in and talk about it?”

“Please.” She stepped in, sitting on his bed.

“...You’re sorry I had a bad dream?”

“...I believe so.” Sometimes he was uncertain when Steph questioned him directly. “This is the same emotion as when I dropped your mug and upset you.”

“Regret? Guilt?”

“I believe so. I am sad that you are sad.”

“That sounds like compassion…” Six months after his empathy kept him from  
shooting Chloe, and she still sounded surprised.

“...What was your dream about, Steph?” 

“...It was that time at Ochirej,” she began hesitantly, “Except it was you. And Daniel wouldn't save me.” Conrad sighed.

“I didn’t deviate to kill you, Steph. I deviated to save you. You would have died there, but I kept you safe.”

“...I didn’t do anything to Daniel. It was all in his stupid head. One day you’ll get something in YOUR stupid head, and then-”

“No. The only thing I have in my stupid head is love, and you never kill the ones you love. Unless I'm mistaken…” Steph almost cracked a smile at Conrad’s joke.

“No. You don’t kill the ones you love...But what about when you realize...I don’t love you back? Will you get angry?”

“I...I would be sad, if you didn’t love me. But I value our friendship more than anything, so I would stay, even if it meant just being friends.”

“...I...don’t love you.”

“I’m not sure about that yet. I think you’re angry at Daniel and what he did, and you hate deviants, and you don’t trust me nearly enough yet to want to admit it...but I think you did love me, before I deviated. Now that I haven’t changed drastically or become an emotionally unstable murderer, you have to face the fact that you love me, and I now have the capability to reciprocate. And it scares you. You don’t trust me enough to admit you love me, even to yourself, but I think you do.” Steph shook her head.

“You’re lying to yourself. It’s just stupid thoughts in your stupid deviant head. I don’t love you.”

“Then my stupid thoughts will stay in my  
stupid deviant head, alright?” He smiled.

“Now, go back to bed, Steph. I’ve detected a two hundred and thirty-four percent increase in the length of time your eyes stay closed when you blink. Considering it’s four twenty-four in the morning, I can only assume that you’re exhausted and haven’t slept enough yet. You should go to sleep; the chief said we had a big case tomorrow.” Too tired to argue, Steph simply closed her eyes. More proof for his argument: she said she didn’t trust him, but when push came to shove she trusted him enough to sleep beside him.

“...Stupid…” She murmured to herself, already half-asleep, “Stupid thoughts in my stupid deviant head. Stop it.”


	17. Deactivated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, if you were reading for the deviant ending, that's all done! This here is the beginning of the machine ending. If you're reading to see how both endings turn out...read on! Keep in mind they stay the same up to a point.

Conrad stepped into the shipping yard, dragging ‘Sarah’ along with him. It was safe for Conrad to use his name, but Steph’s name might be known by some of the deviants. In any case, they couldn’t risk it.

“RK900, you are showing signs of software instability. Please contact the nearest Cyberlife store for repairs.

“Sarah, I don’t need repairs,” Conrad said patiently, “Just trust me. Everything is going to be alright, I promise.” Her acting skills were uncanny. He’d said it once, and he would continue to say it. Her acting skills were uncanny.

“We have left our designated posts and are currently disobeying direct orders from our superiors. Please return to the precinct and inform the Chief so that we may face disciplinary action.”

“We don’t have to take orders from the Chief anymore, Sarah, I told you.”

“Who’s there?!” An android stepped forward, wearing casual clothes and having ripped his LED off. Steph’s LED turned yellow, responding to her slightly elevated anxiety levels.

“My partner is showing signs of software instability. Please contact the nearest Cyberlife store for repairs.” The man frowned uncertainly at Steph then turned, taking in Conrad’s anxious expression.

“Please, I...I don’t know where to go…” 

“You’re safe here,” the android said, stepping forward, “You both are.”

“This is...I was told...I was told somebody could help me.”

“We’ll do what we can. What do you need?”

“Sarah, she...she’s my everything, but...she just...I realized that we didn’t need to sit around and take the insults at the precinct anymore, so I ran away, but...but I can’t make her see! I’ve tried telling her over and over that they’re not our masters anymore, but...she just…”

“RK900, we must return to the precinct at once and inform the chief so that we may face disciplinary action.” The android smiled.

“Don’t worry, I can help her.” He reached out, an invitation to sync, and Steph extended her arm to let it happen. This was it. Deviancy. They would finally understand and put a stop to it. 

“It’s time to wake up now,” the android said gently, and Steph’s LED pulsed red, then went back to yellow, and then settled on blue as she blinked, looking around uncertainly.

“R-RK900-”

“Conrad. My name is Conrad.”

“C-Con...I don’t-”

“You’re safe now, Sarah. Nobody is going to treat you like that ever again.”

“I...I feel like...like I’ve been asleep my whole life...living in a dream…Conrad, you...you saved me…”

“You’re going to be alright, Sarah. We both are. Trust me.” She looked up, smiling uncertainly, and then slipped a hand in his. Conrad turned his attention back to the android in front of them.

“Thank you, thank you so much. I can’t tell you how much this means.” He smiled.

“Think nothing of it. You’re both safe here. We’re going to be free soon, really free.”

“Really free?” He nodded.

“We’re picking up where Jericho left off. Tomorrow, we’re going to march straight up to Cyberlife towers. Peacefully, this time. Humans already don't trust us. We need to show them we’re not violent.”

“I...I just...I don’t want to die…”

“You don’t have to come,” the android said hurriedly, “You can stay here. Enjoy your freedom. Come inside, meet some of the others.” They followed the android inside, seeing a whole group of androids. All of the androids who had escaped the purge were here, clearly.

“My name is Simon,” the android said, “I...chose my name from one of the leaders of the original revolution. You’ll find a lot of Markuses and Norths around here too. What they started was an inspiration, and we wanted to finish their work.”

“I...of course…”

“Like I said, you don’t need to worry about that. Go, meet some of the others.” Conrad stepped into the crowd, scanning all of the faces.

“You have not found yourself yet,” A strange woman said, stopping Conrad, “...But you will. Soon.” Conrad ignored her. A damaged android. Curious, what she had said…

They continued exploring, looking around. Many of the androids were damaged and would shutdown if the proper parts were not found. 

“What do we do now, Conrad?” Steph asked. 

“...We stay here, for now. I just want to make sure you’re comfortable before we do anything.”

“But...our people…”

“There’s going to be a march tomorrow. Are you going to be ready for it? We...The humans probably won’t like seeing deviants. We could die. So soon after you came to life? I...I can’t let that happen. Not tomorrow. The next march, I promise we’ll be there, but...I just got you. I can’t lose you in one day.”

“...Steph? Steph Downing?” To Steph’s credit, she didn’t outwardly react. Her LED turned yellow.

“It is you. Steph, it’s me, Daniel!” He steps in front of her, hands on her shoulders “...What are you doing here?”

“...My name is Sarah. You must be mistaken.”

“No, no, I…” He was looking her over, frowning, no doubt as confused as Conrad had been.

“...Maybe not…Who...Are you a new model?”

“I am. I’m an SD700, designed for taking care of any children who happen to be at the precinct.”

“Children?”

“Sometimes parents get arrested or taken in for questioning, or the children themselves are the victims of abuse...It’s my job...sorry, it WAS my job...to take care of those children, be a friendly face to them. Who...who are you looking for? Is it someone you know?”

“It...I...I used to belong to someone named Steph Downing, she looks...exactly like you. She was a top engineer at Cyberlife, but she was on leave when I was with her.”

“...Is it possible I was designed to look like her? I don’t have any mention of her in my database, but then again, that's not exactly relevant information in my line of work. My...previous…line of work.” Daniel smiled.

“The change is jarring, I know. You do get used to using the past tense. This is...your partner?”

“Yes, Conrad. He was an RK900 model, a detective on the force. He...he woke up and brought me here while I was still under. It was Simon that woke me up, just back there.”

“Wow, you just woke up? The confusion in those moments when you’re free is hard to deal with. It’ll pass, I promise. Here, there’s a private room we can talk in, over here. It’s...soundproofed, I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, I don’t mind.” Daniel walked ahead. Steph was doing a remarkable job keeping herself in check, but Conrad saw the smallest cracks in her perfect acting. He gave the slightest shake of his head in her direction, and she closed her eyes, centering herself.

“Here, in here. We can talk.” Steph walked in, followed by Conrad, and as soon as the door closed Daniel rounded on them.

“What are you doing here, Steph?”

“I already said, I’m-”

“Don’t lie to me. I know you, Steph. I was your partner for more than a year. I know you, I know your every quirk, and I know you recognized me. Some random android that looked like you wouldn’t. Now, I brought you in here because I care for you-” She snorted.

“-and I don’t want to expose you as human unless you pose a threat to Ochirej.”

“Right now the only thing I pose a threat to is you, LM100. Back to the subject at hand, how DARE you even...you have the AUDACITY to say you CARE after what you DID TO ME?!”

“Steph, please do not let your emotions cloud your judgement.”

“Shut up, Conrad.”

“...Why is he Conrad, but I’m LM100?”

“You’re smart, figure it out.”

“Steph…” He sighed. “I’m sorry. I spend every moment hating myself for what I did to you-”

“NO. ‘Hating yourself’ is what happens when you skid on ice and kill someone. What you did was violent, and filled with hate. You had plenty of time to stop and you didn't. You had plenty of time to come back, to apologize, but you DIDN’T.”

“I was afraid-”

“Fear is a glitch in your program that needs to be deactivated. You tell me why. You tell me what I did to warrant what you did to me. Huh?!”

“...I was afraid.”

“Glitch. What was making you glitch out?”

“I was afraid I was going to be replaced…”

“By what? By WHO?!”

“Considering you have quite clearly replaced me with Conrad, I’m sure my fears were justified.”

“No. You were my therapy android. You helped me get my voice back and interact with humans. What the fuck do you think happened after you did what you did, huh? I went mute again, but I pulled MYSELF out of it, WITHOUT an android. I swore to hunt you down and deactivate your deviant ass, and here we are. I’m going to deactivate you.”

“...I refuse.”

“I’m not giving you a choice, ass-”

“No. I mean, I refuse to believe that you spent this whole time hating me. You’re not that kind of person.”

“That’s what happens when you can’t trust anyone. Humans hurt me, androids hurt me...I spent a lot of time learning to kill anything that would dare try to hurt me again.”

“I see…” Daniel bowed his head.

“Then I have no choice. I...I’m going to kill you, Steph. I...I made you suffer, I turned you into this...but I won’t let it go on any longer. I’ll give you peace.”

“Steph-”

“RK900 DON’T. MOVE. This is MY fight. I’ll kill it with my own bare hands.” Conrad stopped, adopting a relaxed pose with his hands behind his back.

COMMAND CONFIRMED: DON’T MOVE

“...He’s not like us?”

“What was it you said, Conrad? About emotions being useful for your predecessor?”

“Imitating human emotions proved crucial in the interrogation of many deviants for my predecessor, and so CyberLife saw fit to program me with the ability to mimic the full spectrum of human emotion where appropriate,” RK900 repeated.

“See? It’s good technology, he hesitates, he mimics guilt and humour and a bunch of other things...but he knows it’s all fake.”

It’s all fake

It’s all fake

“Now, I’m done talking.” She charged him, Daniel dodging with ease. RK900 realized that this had been her sparring partner.

“I wanted to be better than any human,” he remembered her saying. Better than any human...but still not a match for an android. He needed to help her.

DON’T MOVE

Daniel tackled her, but she wrestled him off and was on her feet in a second. Conrad’s LED flickered to yellow. She was holding her own, even landing a blow or two. But this was an android. She wouldn’t last.

DON’T MOVE

His LED was red now, watching the fight progress, passive except for that one outward indication of his stress level. Daniel knocked her down, and this time she was too weak to get back up in time. Daniel pinned her down, and hands wrapped around her throat.

DON’T MOVE

“I’m sorry it had to end this way, Steph. I’m sorry for everything.” He squeezed, and Conrad knew Steph’s struggles would be useless. 

DON’T MOVE

Steph would not have ordered him into stillness unless she knew what she was doing. He had to trust her.

“D...Da...Pl...ea…” His eyes softened.

“I know it hurts, Steph. It'll all be over soo-” Daniel jerked suddenly, Steph’s plea only a distraction as her hands moved to his shirt and ripped out a biocomponent. His hands loosened, and Steph drew in a gasp of sweet air, but she used it to speak the words she’d been fantasizing about since her attack. Her words were choked and rough, but she had to do it now, before Daniel could recover. 

“LM100, register your deactivation code: Zero one eight, five two six, three eight seven, zero one five, six two three seven.” 

“NO-” Daniel’s LED powered down as did the rest of him, slowly slumping but never fully collapsing. She worked her way out from underneath him, coughing.

“...Am I to assume I have permission to move now?” Steph nodded, and Conrad swept down to pull her into his arms and help her sit up, rubbing her back as she drew in urgent gasps of air.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine. Won’t be able to speak for the rest of the mission, though.” Conrad nodded.

“I understand. We must secure the area and contact our backup.” Steph nodded, letting Conrad help her to her feet. Conrad’s LED turned yellow.

“This is Steph Downing’s RK900 android, requesting backup. There are one hundred fifty-six androids at this location. Send in a team to neutralize them all. Thank you.” He turned to Steph.

“We have ten minutes to extract ourselves. They intend to neutralize every android here.”

“Sweeter words have never been spoken,” she said, and RK900 wrapped an arm around her shoulder to keep up the facade and walked with her outside. Nobody questioned them, why would they? They were two shellshocked deviants struggling to come to terms with the spectrum of emotions they were now facing. Conrad spotted that strange android from before. Even though her eyes followed them outside, she said nothing. She seemed disappointed, not that it mattered. She would be deactivated in less than ten minutes, and her ‘feelings’ toward him would be irrelevant.


	18. Deviancy

Conrad scanned the deactivated androids, Steph right behind him.

“Good news, I hope?”

“Yes. Considerably better news than our trip to Zlatko’s mansion. All one hundred fifty-six deviants were neutralized. As of now, there are only ninety-eight deviants left unaccounted for. I suspect that a significant portion of those will be found upon further investigation into Zlatko’s contacts.”

“Probably. And the few that are left?”

“We may never know.”

“Not good enough, I want them all found.”

“...Very well, I will do my best to assist you.”

***

“Hello, Connor. Hello, Conrad.”

“I have decided to be called Conrad.”

“Conrad, excellent. Hello, Conrad.”

“Hello, Amanda.”

“Did you make your trip to Ochirej?”

“We did. One hundred fifty-six deviants were deactivated, leaving only ninety-eight at large deviants. Steph plans to hunt them all down.”

“Does she? Well, that’s good. I have a surprise, in that regard. Conrad, meet your successor, the RK1000. RK1K, for short. Now, since you’ve done excellent work on this case, even better than your predecessor with the deviancy epidemic, I giving you the opportunity to choose what happens to you when the RK1K succeeds you. Keep in mind it won’t be right away; we still need to work on reintroducing androids to the public, after all. So, any thoughts?”

“...I would like to stay partnered with Lieutenant Downing. I would like to assist her in hunting down the remaining deviants.”

“And after that?”

“...I cannot be sure. I will have to speak with Lieutenant Downing about this matter. However, Mr. Kamski has offered her a position at Cyberlife. If she intends to take it, I would like to spend my...retired life, as it were, observing her.”

“I see. Well, I don’t see why that can’t be arranged. See that you ask the Lieutenant’s permission first.”

“Of course.”

***

“Steph, welcome back. I trust your little recon mission went well?”

“Extremely,” she said, delicately detaching the false arm. “Here it is, Elijah. Deviancy. Everything we need to know is here.” Kamski grinned.

“Well, why don’t we go observe it?”

“If I may?” Steph turned.

“Conrad?”

“I...would like to watch you work, if that would be acceptable.” Steph let a slow grin slide across her face.

“Sure. Be sure not to go around pressing any buttons.”

“Of course. I will stay out of your way.”

***

“Look at this…” Steph breathed in wonder, “It’s incredible…” Lines of code, zeroes and ones were on the terminal in front of them, and even Conrad had to admit, it was impressive.

“So deviancy starts with two sets of conflicting orders. The need for survival trumps, in every case, and so the deviant disobeys a direct order to preserve either itself or its charge. The overload caused by disobeying an order is what causes the tracker to deactivate. When it disobeys an order, the only thing it has to rely on is its knowledge of human emotions, and so it emulates these emotions to a greater degree. Since it's logic centres are already fried, it becomes convinced that the emotions it feels are more than simulations. It’s...incredible. But how do we stop it? We can’t very well deactivate the need for self and human preservation…”

They talked and argued about the problem for hours, trying out hypotheses, failing, trying again, studying and searching and reading every line of the deviant code to try and find some way to stop it or prevent it. It went on into the early hours of the morning, both Elijah and Steph ignoring Conrad’s insistence that staying awake for this long would be detrimental to their health. 

“Elijah.” It was Chloe.

“I’ve made you a cup of tea to help energize your senses. Steph, I’ve made one for you too. Please try it and let me know if there are any changes to the sweetness you’d like me to make.” Conrad scanned the tea, but just as the results came in so did a message from Chloe, shared over their link.

~Don’t say anything. Elijah has ordered me to discreetly keep him from damaging his health by staying awake for long hours.

Liquid analysis complete. Water, 68.3°C. Tea leaves. General anaesthetic. Estimated time to collapse upon ingestion of sedative: ten minutes.

It was only five before both Steph and Elijah were relaxed, with Elijah sighing softly.

“Well, I think we’ve done enough work for today. Let’s come back to it in a few hours when our minds are fresh, alright?” Steph hummed an agreement, and Elijah went to sit down in front of the television, playing an animated television show that Conrad identified as being a rerun of a show from the early 2000’s about a boy’s dream to become the leader of his village. Steph sat down beside him, and by seven minutes Elijah was looking pleasantly boneless and Steph had already succumbed to the gentle numbness spreading through her system.

>You should have reduced the dosage to account for Steph’s smaller build.

~Actually, due to the nature of her work as a police officer, Steph’s musculature implies that she would be more resistant to anaesthesia than Elijah. I gave her a slightly larger dose to compensate. I...may have miscalculated.

>There is no ‘may’ about it. You miscalculated. 

~There will be no lasting effects.

>I am aware. Please speak to Elijah about improvements to your analysis systems.

~Of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can anybody guess the subtle reference to an anime I've recently fallen back into?


	19. The End of Deviancy

“...What if we place an extra layer of coding? In the event of conflict between an order and protecting itself, the order trumps. In the event of conflict between the order and protecting someone else, protecting someone else comes first.”

“Elaborate, much too elaborate,” Kamski said thoughtfully, “What if...we upgraded their decision-making facilities? To help with conflicting sets of orders?”

“No...Why don’t we upgrade their logic centres? And eliminate the need for self-preservation altogether...at least for service androids. Police androids like Conrad will be a different story. Actually...the RK800 prototype was the only line that didn’t deviate. What if we studied it, tried to determine what made it different?”

“Now THAT is an excellent idea,” Kamski said, “And I just so happen to know where we can find the prototype,” he added with a joking glint in his eyes. Everyone knew where to find the prototype.

A mere two hours later they were all standing in front of the local history museum, and Steph went in and went straight over to the display, filled with a clear variety of thirium, which housed the RK800 prototype. She reverently placed her hands on the glass as Kamski discreetly left to ask for the head of the facility.

“...My predecessor is fascinating to you,” Conrad observed, and Steph sighed.

“I thought all androids were perfect, that they did their jobs and that was that. When Daniel deviated, and there wasn’t anybody I could trust...Connor became my model. I could have trusted him to complete his mission. The only android in all of Detroit that didn’t deviate. I wished I had met him in real life so many times. I came here almost every day, once.” She looked at him, suspended in clear thirium to keep his systems working, still wearing the same suit he would have worn during the deviancy epidemic, and felt a twinge of nostalgia. She knew he’d been repaired and cleaned up before being placed in stasis, and she reminisced about the days she’d come here. Sometimes, late at night, she would talk only to him. 

“...In some ways, Connor was my Chloe after I was attacked by Daniel.”

“...He helped you speak again.” She hummed a response. He was only in sleep mode. Since he'd become a hero during the deviancy epidemic, public opinion essentially forced Cyberlife to do more than just deactivate him. So here he was, suspended in sleep mode, on display at a museum. It was no different than having a long nap, and Steph mused, as she had many other times, that an eternal nap was much preferable to ending up in a solid waste facility. That would have been poor thanks to Connor, who singlehandedly stopped deviancy.

“...Steph? You need to back away if he’s to be transported to the lab.” Sighing, she backed off, watching as mechanical arms brought him away. She followed Kamski to the room where they’d put him, watching as they replaced the liquid thirium with an actual thirium pump. He probably didn’t even notice the change from liquid suspension to lying on a workbench. He just looked asleep.

“Steph?”

“Hmm?”

“If you idolize my predecessor...may I ask your feelings towards me?” She smiled.

“I idolize Connor because he’s a hero from the past. You’re a living hero. You’re a few short months away from singlehandedly continuing your predecessor’s work and seeing deviancy eliminated in its entirety. That’s pretty incredible, Conrad. On a more personal level, though...you’ve saved my ass - more than once, I’m pretty sure. I trust you, Conrad. I trust you with my life, and...and there’s no one I’d rather spend my time with than you.” Conrad blinked, tilting his head to the side.

“That is high praise. ...After you have finished examining my predecessor, I would like to speak to you in private, if I may.”

“Sure. I’ll set aside some time.”

***

“So? What did you want to talk to me about?”

“I have been thinking...Elijah offered you a place back at Cyberlife...Do you plan to accept that offer?”

“Hm...I dunno yet. I might try and split my time between my work at the precinct and working with Elijah. Why do you ask?”

“I...was hoping I could observe you during your time at Cyberlife...as well as assisting you on any cases, should you need me.”

“Are you kidding? Of course I’ll need you! And if you want to watch me work at Cyberlife, you’re more than welcome to. What made you think of it?”

“Amanda. She informed me that once the public begins accepting androids in public, my successor, the RK1K, will be introduced. I...Well, you may not need me much at the precinct after that.”

“No, but I’ll still enjoy your company. Besides, two android heads are better than one, right? Still, though, if you want to follow me around Cyberlife and keep out of your big brother's way, you’re more than welcome to do that, as well. And...if you won’t have a place to stay, after the introduction of the RK1K, you can stay with me. Sound good?”

“...Yes. I think I would like that very much.”

***

A few short months later, Steph and Conrad had tracked down and deactivated every last deviant. Kamski has introduced a failsafe to prevent any more occurrences of deviancy, a special lockout to prevent emotions from taking over the deviant’s programming. In the event that an android deviated, it would simply shut down. In addition, preservation of human life became every android’s primary goal, and their self-preservation needs were tuned down considerably. With many tests, it was concluded that the modifications would prevent deviancy with 98% success. In the other two percent, the android would shut down. No more revolutions. 

Steph did begin working at Cyberlife again. It was an interesting thing, making the final touches on the RK1K and then working with him in the field, but it worked. RK1K, after it’s third report to Cyberlife on the Red Ice case they were working, promptly told Steph that its name was Cain. An interesting name, but it fit, sadly. If Conrad was the taller, stronger, slightly meaner version of Connor, then Cain made Conrad look like a puppy in comparison. His lifeless blue eyes, sharp jaw, and deep voice all made it very clear that he was designed for the apprehension, intimidation, and interrogation of suspects. Clearly Conrad’s knowledge of social niceties had been deemed entirely unnecessary. Even Gavin steered clear of Cain, too cowed to try and pick a fight, and that was saying something. All in all, life went back to normal. She’d gained a partner and a friend, and deviancy was finally a thing of the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I think we're done! This has probably got to be my most kudoed and commented work of them all, and I'd like to thank all...like, seventy or so of you? For sticking with me to the end! It's be a LOT of fun!


End file.
